GROUP NEWS

GEAR Faces Financial Crisis

By Dianne Fishman

The Gay Educational Awareness Resources (G.E.A.R.) Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization established in 1977. As its name implies, its purpose is to promote community awareness on gay issues and to provide direct services and programs for the gay population of Northeast Ohio. In addition to its Gay Community Center on West 14th Street, service committees are High Gear (a gay newspaper), the Gay Hotline, the Counseling Program, the Men's Action Committee (M.A.C.), and Lesbians in Gear Hanging Together (L.1.G.H.T.).

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Many of you may have heard of G.E.A.R. more recently when Mary Strassmeyer, gossip columnist of the Plain Dealer, reported that the bank had foreclosed on the G.E.A.R. Foundation Building on West 14th. She has since privately, but not publicly, retracted her statement, but it has left many concerned people worrying about the fate of Cleveland's largest gay resource.

G.E.A.R. is, admittedly, in difficult times, but its demise is not imminent. To clarify its current status, some brief background is in order.

In June 1977, the Gay Community Center opened on Coventry for the G.E.A.R. Hotline and meeting space for rap groups and peer counseling. The space was destroyed in the Coventry Road fire of December 1978, forcing us to seek refuge in a room on Sumner Avenue donated by the owner of the adjacent bar. The Center had outgrown the space by the end of 1979, and members started an active search for a new home. In early 1980, G.E.A.R. decided to purchase its current building at 2641 West 14th Street and spent the next several months in an extensive effort to raise the $7,000 downpayment. The land contract was signed in November 1980, and we held our housewarming party in December:

1980 was a year of changes in our structure as well. At the annual meeting in June, we adopted an expanded structure and spent the next year discussing job descriptions, policies, budgets, programs and services. Plagued by lack of volunteers and lack of in-. come during this crucial time, we questioned our ability to maintain our own building. A special meeting of the membership was held in May of 1982 to deal with the question of whether we should sell. Members at that time voted to stay.

At the annual meeting in June 1982, members voted to change the structure again by cutting the number of Trustees from 12 to 6 and adopting consensus decision-making rather than majority rule. By September, three of the six Trustees had resigned and in October, all three remaining Trustees resigned. Without a Board, no Foundation business could be transacted.

On November 8, 1982, the G.E.A.R. Foundation held another special membership meeting to discuss. proposals to help it out of its current crisis. Of the more than 50 people in attendance, only half were' members and were therefore eligible to vote on the Foundation's fate.

It was reported that the membership had dwindled, with only 67 active paid members. However, reports by each of the fivé service committees indicated that individually the groups are strong and, in some cases, are expanding.

Following these reports was a discussion of the status of the building. The Foundation has a monthly budget of $1,143 in addition to overdue mortgage payments of $6,600 and $2,300.owed for utilities." The building also needs work to correct code viola tions. The debts are not insurmountable, if the Foundation can create a steady income. Rental from the

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second floor apartments could help pay on the balance due ($26,000). John Lehner, chief negotiator in the purchase of the property, stated; "As of yet, the building is not under foreclosure: In a recent conversation with the mortgage holder, he assured me that he will wait for the outcome of tonight's meeting". Lehner also suggested, "Since there are an estimated 150,000 gays in Cleveland alone, not including surrounding counties, if the G.E.A.R. Foundation received $1 from each person, that would solve all the financial problems overnight".

A proposal to dissolve the Foundation was overwhelmingly rejected, as members rose to the Foundation's support. A member of Integrity, the local gay Christian ministry, commented, "GEAR is the hub of all networks of groups within the city. People should get behind the center and save it. There are other groups that depend on it". Another member added that "A foundation is needed to represent the total gay community, to speak for us, to say to the vast majority that we are here because we have a right to exist. Other groups have individual focuses. Unless we come to a common ground, we have no basis for this organization. We need a coordinating group to say we truly represent the gay community".

A majority of the members chose to support a second proposal, calling for the immediate election of a Pro-Tem Board. (At present, the seven members are

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all male, although three women were nominated but declined for personal reasons.) The Pro-Tem Board will meet monthly and report their progress and plans toward solvency at the next general membership meeting at the center on February 6, 1983.

Since the November 8 meeting, we have learned that no action will be taken by the mortgage holder until after the February 6 meeting. Also, LIGHT has decided to donate a portion of its share of the proceeds from the LIGHT/Women's Building Fund New Year's Eve Party to the GEAR Foundation and a portion to the creation of a new autonomous lesbian organization.

Where does that leave the GEAR Foundation? It seems that the need for the services offered by the Foundation grew faster than could be realistically achieved. Even though the service committees are strong enough to continue on their own, hopefully what will arise from the current situation is the unity and spirit to keep striving together. There is no other group to support our gay brothers and sisters. We must take care of our own. How do we get people to care?

GEAR welcomes your contributions of time, money and supplies. For more information on GEAR's counseling program, call the Hotline at 621-3380. For information about High Gear, MAC and LIGHT, call the Foundation number, 621-6546.

PIECES Female Circumcision on Trial

(HerSay/Women's International Network)-Incidents of severe and even fatal medical problems stemming from female genital excision have spurred two countries to take action.

Genital excision is a traditional African practice in which all or part of a girl child's genitals are removed, in the belief that without them she will make a better wife. The practice has been condemned by the World Health Organization and more recently by Kenya's top medical officer and the French ministry. In Kenya, Dr. Karuga Koinange, Director of Medical Services, directed all government and missionary hospitals to stop participating in female circumcision operations. The Women's International Network News (WIN) notes that the fact the prohibition was issued by such a high official probably indicates that the operations are carried out regularly at Kenyan hospitals. That Koinange's directive was also

Filming for Healing

(HerSay)-Some women in California are looking for people who have had experiences with incest. Film maker Theresa Tollini and nine other women are preparing an educational documentary, Breaking Silence, on the subject of incest and "healing" after undergoing the trauma of incest.

The women hope to conduct confidential interviews with members of incestuous families as a way of selecting issues to be discussed in the film. They are also seeking people who may want to appear in the film.

Tollini says the film will emphasize the ways in which people have overcome their experiences with incest. She adds that many of the women involved in the project have themselves had to deal with such ex'periences. The film will look at incest from the standpoint of "becoming a survivor".

mailed to the Catholic Secretariat and the Protestant Churches Medical Association probably indicates that those missionary-sponsored hospitals have been performing these mutilating operations as well.

In France, the death of one infant who hemor rhaged after undergoing excision, and the near death of another, have brought the practice to the attention of the courts. The children's parents face charges of criminal neglect. According to WIN, excision has become a problem in Europe as immigrants from Africa bring the custom with them. In response to the child's death, France's Ministry for Women's Rights has announced it will launch a campaign against genital mutilation in solidarity with African women to "break down the walls of silence".

Nestle: Not Enough

(HerSay)-A watchdog committee formed by the Nestle Company decided in October that the firm had indeed responded "positively" to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on the marketing of baby formula.

However, organizers of a five-year boycott against Nestle claimed as recently as November that the giant food manufacturer had committed 30 violations of the WHO guidelines in eight Asian and Caribbean countries. A spokesperson for Clergy and Laity Qoncerned said the boycott would continue to tencourage full compliance with the Code and effective implementation in all countries".

Nestle's critics charge that the firm's aggressive marketing of its formula has led to the deaths of infants who were given formula mixed with unclean water or formula that their families over-diluted as a cost-cutting measure.

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