Word: nation
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...nation's 302 Roman Catholic bishops were in a celebratory mood last week as they met in Baltimore to mark the 200th anniversary of the founding of the first American diocese. But their deliberations quickly turned sober as they confronted thorny problems that dominated the agenda. Among their actions: a response to AIDS that urges compassion for those with HIV infection -- and strict chastity as the only sure way to avoid the disease -- but sidesteps the bishops' earlier qualified toleration of condom education; a reiterated call for a Palestinian homeland and security for Israel; and a stepped-up antiabortion campaign...
...massive resistance," the last stand of states' rights. The position was argued in high legalisms. But in deeper truth, Senator Harry F. Byrd Sr. and other leaders of white Virginia were constructing a cathedral of rhetoric ("interposition . . . sacred duty . . . priceless natural right . . .") to enshrine the remnants of the nation's original sin, slavery...
Although the drive for domestic-partnership legislation partly reflects the changing priorities of the gay-rights movement, the new rights being proposed would be available to heterosexual couples as well. Of the nation's 91 million households, 2.6 million are inhabited by unmarried couples of the opposite sex. Only 1.6 million households involve unmarried couples of the same sex. These figures include a disparate array of personal arrangements: young male- female couples living together before getting married, elderly friends who decide to share a house, platonic roommates and romantic gay or straight lovers. Among those whose emotional and financial relationship...
Still, the most ardent support for partnership rights comes from gay groups. For them the issue is more pressing: heterosexual couples at least have the option to wed if they wish to be eligible for family benefits, but gays do not. (Denmark in October became the only industrial nation to allow registered gay partnerships.) In addition, the spread of AIDS has raised the importance for gays of medical coverage, bereavement-leave policies, pension rules, hospital visitation rights and laws giving family members the authority to make medical decisions and funeral arrangements. "We are not talking about symbols here," says Thomas...
...NATION: In Virginia, Douglas Wilder cracks the color line to become the first black elected Governor...