LETTERS

Dear WSW:

I was compelled to write to you after attending the 5th Annual Oven Productions Variety Show. Quite frankly, I left feeling disappointed. My point in writing is not to discredit those who performed, but rather to question the intent of such a show.

I came expecting to share in an evening of

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womyn's creativity, but as the evening progressed, I thought I had mistakenly arrived at the wrong church. Could this really be Oven Productions? I find it hard to believe that so little time was given to the musicians and singers. It appeared that their creativity was used as fill ins for the ludicrous skits performed. It amazed me that in a city as large as Cleveland, Oven could produce so little of our Lesbian culture; or perhaps my expectations were too high. I've seen better performances in our living rooms in Akron.

I regret sounding so negative about a show I'm _sure many of you worked hard on, but much of the humor of the show itself seemed to center around a select group. Not being from Cleveland, but a Lesbian just the same, I began to feel alienated. Where is

our sense of Sisterhood?

I keep thinking about the womyn in the audience "who are not Lesbians, what their opinions must be of our creativity. Surely you must admit that the presentation was scattered. Can we afford to be that satirical in a world that's so unfamiliar with our culture? 1 thought the idea of a Variety Show was to present a positive sense of our achievements; musically, poetically, politically...our growth as womyn. Perhaps that is where my disappointment lies, I believe we've come a lot further than this type of performance.

If this is a sample of what Cleveland has to offer, I'm glad I'm in Akron. Watch for us in the future, we're in the stages of planning a Lesbian Variety Show and we'd like all of you to come.

WSW Readers:

-Laura Kaluba

It is a sad commentary on the nature of our society when (according to Gene Shallit on the Today show) Cruising made more money in its first week than any other film running concurrently. The plot, loosely called, revolves around a policeman who goes undercover in a sado-masochistic world of homosexuality in order to track down the man responsible for a series of brutal murders.

This film is worse than the typical porno-violent film, for it stereotypes an entire sub-culture. It reinforces the most perverse fantasies about homosexuality to which a large majority of the straight world tenaciously cling. It is insulting to gay men in particular, and it is insidious in its indictment of the gay community in general. It tells the audience to believe that all gays like, want and seek violent encounters. It makes the entire gay population the "bad guy". In the end, when the audience applauds the brutal-stabbing of the killer by the cop, it becomes more than just a matter of good guy vs. bad buy; it becomes a matter of "straight" vs. "gay", right vs. wrong,

Medicaid Funds for Abortion

Because of a ruling by the United States Supreme Court on February 19, Medicaid must pay for abortions for poor women who want them. In a 6-3 decision, the Court said that Medicaid must pay for all "medically necessary" abortions from now until the Court hands down decisions on two abortionfunding cases now pending before it, which decisions may come as early as April.

The definition of "medically necessary" is much broader than that allowed under the restrictive Hyde Amendment, which halted virtually all publicly funded abortions. The federal government and states which participate in Medicaid must provide funds for "abortions that are necessary in the professional judgment of the pregnant woman's attending physician, exercised in the light of all factors, physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age, relevant to the health-related well-being of the pregnant woman.

Ohio has been under court order to pay for all medically necessary abortions since September, 1979, when Federal Judge Joseph Kinneary ruled that language attached to the state budget restricting public funding of abortion was illegal.

It is feared that because of the complex nature of both rulings, physicians and public hospitals will continue to refuse abortions to poor women who need to use their Medicaid cards for health care.

Christine Link, Executive Director of Education for Freedom of Choice in Ohio, says, "Health care providers and Medicaid-eligible women must be informed that it is illegal for the federal and state governments to refuse to fund abortions. I am afraiḍ

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that women who desperately want early, safe abortions are being denied them because caseworkers, doctors and hospitals do not understand the Court's ruling." In Cleveland four out-patient abortion clinics, Preterm, OMNI, Downtown Medical Center and Cleveland Center for Reproductive Health, accept Medicaid cards for payment.

SAFE and LEGAL SAVES LIVES We are Pro-Life

Suzanne Williamson/LNS

Any woman experiencing difficulty in obtaining information on her right to abortion under Medicaid should contact the American Civil Liberties Union, 781-6276.

moral vs. immoral-the implications are far-reaching and frightening. Homophobia is real enough without garbage such as Cruising to perpetuate and incite it.

Do not be duped, as I was, into thinking that I had to see the movie to know why I was protesting. Everyone across the nation must continue to protest loud and long against individuals and/or institutions .which pander this insidious brand of misinformation. Write letters, picket theatres and don't give them your money! Terry Bullen

Ohio Abortion Study

Recently the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a research organization affiliated with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, released a comprehensive study entitled Abortion: Need, Services and Policies, Ohio.

Among other facts, the 60-page study reveals that: -29 percent of the women who obtained abortions in Ohio were adolescents (about 17,470).

-440 of the adolescents obtaining abortion were under 15.

-80 percent of the women who obtained abortions in the state were unmarried.

-94 percent of all abortions in Ohio were performed in the first trimester of pregnancy.

---Most women in Ohio obtaining abortions were young, unmarried, childless and in the first trimester of pregnancy.

The Guttmacher study further revealed that about 10,600 Medicaid-eligible women in Ohio who needed abortions did not obtain them. Ohio severely restricts funding of abortion services for Medicaid-eligible women. Also, abortion providers are heavily concentrated in the state's metropolitan areas. 43 percent of all abortions in the state were provided in Cleveland and 20 percent in Columbus. Rural women, outside of metropolitan areas, were forced to travel long distances to obtain abortions.

Copies of this report, together with other research information, are available at cost ($5.00) through: Education for Freedom of Choice in Ohio

439 The Arcade

. Cleveland, Ohio 44114

WomenSpace Update

By Carol Braund

The Media Marathon was a unique effort in the fund-raising history of WomenSpace. Saturday, February 16, 1980; was the culmination of one month of intense media coverage, which began with Higbee's Media Women in the Window event on January 16. Cleveland radio and TV stations donated public service time valued at $10,000 to publicize WomenSpace's fund-raising efforts and information about WomenSpace and women's issues in general. Telephone pledges and cash from collection points in the five Kelly-Kitt mall stores brought in $9,500. Never before has WomenSpace raised this much money in any one event.

The success of this effort is important as WomenSpace faces a future of decreasing support from foundations, while trying to increase its financial support to the organizations that come under its umbrella.

The day's victory was marred by a break-in at the WomenSpace office at 1258 Euclid Avenue. Three typewriters, a radio, and an estimated $75-$80 in cash were stolen. Rubbish was dumped in the hallway and all the locks were damaged.