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G.E.A.R. FOUNDATION UPDATE

At the March 16 meeting of the G.E.A.R. Foundation John. Vogel gave a presentation on the status of the foundation's by-laws. He advised the board that G.E.A.R.'s most important action presently is to transfer itself from a private foundation to a public one. The articles of incorporation must be re-written so that the tax-exempt status will be that of a non-private foundation. Such a step would guarantee a total tax-free status and allow contributors to G.E.A.R. as a public corporation to take a double tax write-off for their donations for a community center.

If G.E.A.R. wishes to file for tax-exempt status, it must do so by submitting the new by-laws to the IRS by May 15, the fiscal year deadline. A detailed statement on the operation of High Gear was requested (including projected estimates of monies available to the foundation in the coming year). Also requested from the G.E.A.R. board was a plan on how raised funds would be distributed.

Concerning the Gay Switchboard, Don Skaggs reported that 14 people are presently managing the hotline. Of those, five are professional counselors and three others have related counseling backgrounds. Dan Richmond new editor of Ohio East Gay News was asked to investigate

the escrow funds from the recent OEGN Lambda awards benefit to see how much money was being allocated Cleveland's community center.

to

At the April 6 GEAR meeting, Gloria Sorenson was appointed to the Board of Directors and named treasurer of the separate GEAR Foundation account. Ms. Sorenson has been active in Gay A.A., the Gay Alcoholic Hotline, and is studying for a ministry in the MCC church.

The Board sanctioned two upcoming community center benefits. The first will be May 5. at the Shaker Club where a $1.50 donation will be collected at the door. Dick Deutsch, owner of the Shaker Club, has been kind enough to provide a free buffet and door prizes. All proceeds will go to Cleveland's Gay Community Center.

Also in mid-May another benefit will be held at the New Mayfield Cinema. Tentative plans are for the presentation of the movie, "A Very Natural Thing." Donations are $5.00 at the door. A glass of champagne is included.

Also discussed at the April 6 meeting were the membership levels for people in the community to join the Foundation. The Board approved a general membership for $5.00, contributing for $10.00, Sustaining, $25.00, Corporate membership, $50.00, and lifetime membership $100.00, All membership fees will go directly to the Community Center.

HIGH GEAR

APRIL 1976

ODDS AND

by Jerry Juszczyk

On March 17's Tomorrow show, Tom Snyder asked presidential candidate Jimmy Carter how he felt about the presence of gays in the armed forces. Said Carter; "I favor the end of harassment and discrimination of homosexuals except for high national security posts where blackmail might be possible." Replied Snyder, "Can't a man who has a wife and two children and is caught having an affair with another woman also be subject to blackmail?" Carter: "Yes, but a heterosexual relationship is less embarrassing to a man than a homosexual one."

The Blade reports that the commissioner of health services for the five county Philadelphia region, Dr. Walter J. Lear, recently disclosed he is gay. His purpose in coming out is to focus attention on the problems gay people have in receiving adequate health care.....

Fireman Bill Cashman, 26, of Miami eagerly posed nude for a centerfold for Playgirl

magazine; but when he discovered that the same photo was featured in Blueboy, a popular nudie rag for gays, he was less than thrilled: "I thought I'd get a lot of laughs out of it (the Playgirl photo). I figured I could meet a few stray chicks through it," he said. Then the photo from Blueboy appeared on the wall of his fire station. He complained, "Rightaway,people think I'm gay. He's suing photographer David Vance and Blueboy for $2 million..... Ah, poor baby...

Movie director Lushini Visconti, a leader of Italy's postwar renaissance, died of a heart seizure March 15 at his home. He was 69. Gays will remember Visconti, a neorealist, best for his tender interpretation of Death in Venice......

Father Richard Ginder, author of Binding with Briars: Sex and Sin in the Catholic Church (reviewed in January's High Gear) has been suspended by Bishop Vincent Leonard of Pittsburgh. Reasons given: Ginder had said, "things diametrically opposed to the teachings of the Church."

....

California Congressmen Barry Goldwater Jr. and John and Phillip Burton recently introduced a House resolution commending gay San Franciscan Oliver Sipple, for helping save the life of President Ford......

Pity the Pot...... David Bowie and three companions were arrested March 20 in Rochester, N.Y. on charges of possession of marijuana. About a half pound of weed was found in the room they were in. Bowie, 29, was released on $2000 bail.......

Right on Bloomington, Indiana for being the 33rd city to enact gay civil rights legislation. Cleveland Hts. is number 34......

A new periodical titled Journal of Homosexuality, edited by Charles Silverstein, is exclusively devoted to empirical and clinical research on male homosexuality, lesbianism, transsexualism, gender identity, and alternate lifestyles. Subscriptions are $15.00 per yr. Write Haworth Press, 174 Fifth Ave., N.Y., N.Y. for more information.....

Has anyone noticed the Suzuki TV commercials lately? They have been featuring regularly two men who appear to be enjoying each other more than their Suzukis!.......

The most recent cover of the National Lampoon portrays an androgynous Soviet athlete with a basket which is as prominent as his/her breasts. The issue contains several humorous references to lesbians. Ever since the Lampoon showed a convincing young transvestite on its cover some months ago, it has regularly incorporated satire on society's concepts of gays......

Monty's Python's Flying Circus is as gay as ever. Catch it on Educational TV, UHF Channel 25 for Cleveland area people.....

The recipient of the 1976 Presidential Sports Award was Adam Starchild, an openly gay business consultant. Starchild received the award certificate signed by President Ford for his canoe expeditions through the

area of

Quetico-Superior Minnesota and Ontario......

TV Tripping......On March 16 Rich Little said to Michael Landon: "I've always wanted to do a show with a horse and two menunder a blanket." Whereupon Little planted a generous kiss on Michael Landon's cheek......

Candidate watchers will be pleased to note that the newest entry, Governor Jerry Brown of California, signed the new statewide gay rights anti-discrimination bill despite repeated pressures to veto it by reactionary fundamentalist religious groups......

UPI reports that homosexual prisoners will get special treatment in Mexico City's four new penitentiaries. According to authorities they'll have individual cells, with private bathrooms. The other prisoners will sleep three to a cell......

Notable absences at the recent Academy Awards included feminist-actress Glenda Jackson and activist Al Pacino......Sister Lily Tomlin showed; but in a strikingly satirical white fur and jeweled tiara..... So much for the awards.......

WEWS-TV recently reported that a rapist in California accosted an attractive woman, only to find that when he lifted her skirt there was a penis where a vagina should have been...Taken aback, the rapist ran from the transvestite; but not before the TV bopped him sharply on the head with a flying brick.... Right on, sister!......

An NBC News poll revealed that 48% of Americans would oppose gay people as schoolteachers but 40% were in favor of the idea. The exact question, part of the "What America Thinks: An NBC News Poll", was "Do you think that homosexuals should be allowed to become school teachers?" According to the Gay Community News, NBC commentators stated that they "deliberately picked school teachers as this is one of the most sensitive areas in talking about homosexuals," and added that the 40% figure supporting gays in the schools was a "surprisingly large number."

United

Contradiction of the month: We notice that in the Proposed Amendments to "Social Principles" of the Methodist Church that a committee states, "Homosexuals no less than heterosexuals are persons of sacred worth, and. who need the ministry and guidance of the church in their struggle for human fulfillment. We welcome all persons regardless of sexual orientation into the fellowship and membership of the United Methodist Church, and we insist that all persons are entitled to have their human rights ensured (however, we do not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian