HIGH GEAR/AUGUST 1977

PERK BLASTS GAYS

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THREE YEARS OF HIGH GEARS

CLEVELAND As the "National Conference on the Blight of Obscenity" drew to a close July 29, 1977 Cleveland's Mayor Ralph Perk attacked gay people in an impromptu news conference. When asked by reporters to voice his view on homosexuality Perk referred to a quote in his keynote speech to the conference: "All I can say is what I said yesterday, that people who feel it is necessary to have sex with animals, or with children, or rubber dolls, or themselves or with the same sex are not practicing what is normal. I called them pornomaniacs," Perk said.

Perk went on to say that he did not know whether any of his staff were homosexual or whether any of the city's 10,000 employees are gay.

"If someone covered by Civil Service was found guilty of homosexuality, I would have to check with the Civil Service Commission on what to do," said Perk.

When asked if he would recommend passing over homosexuals for Civil Service

promotions, Perk said he thought that would be a good idea but that he'd have to check first with the commission.

Meanwhile, Mayor Perk's "porn poll" which was delivered to area residents by the city's garbage collectors has proven to be a sham. Of the 250,000 questionnaires sent out, only 4% were returned; predictably most were overwhelmingly against the presence of pornography in the city of Cleveland.

Dr. Jae-won Lee, a communications professor at Cleveland State University, was commissioned by the city to conduct a "scientific telephone poll" on the subject of pornography to complement the questionnaires delivered by sanitation workers. The results of this poll were in sharp contrast to the "garbage poll." Based on telephone interviews with 450 persons throughout the city, Lee's inquiry showed that most Clevelanders appear to favor the establishment of "porn districts" in the city.

On the key question of restricting pornography sales, Perk reported that 71% favored a complete ban, 19% favored sales in limited areas and 10% opposed any restriction.

Lee found only 33.8% in favor of a complete ban. Restricted sales were approved by 48.2% and no restrictions by 11.8%.

Perk reported that 85.7% of Clevelanders objected to material catering to "homosexuals and sadists:" Lee said 55.4% do. Perk's poll showed 72.3% of respondents in favor of banning material that offended the average person. Lee's survey found only 41.8% holding that view.

The latter was a key question in view of Supreme Court rulings that definitions of obscenity were a matter of community standards. Perk and the city had hoped to come up with a report that would be admissible in court as evidence of such standards.

But Lee said that if he were called as a witness he would have to testify that such a report was not conclusive enough to constitute valid evidence.

· OUR ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

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OGRC FORMING STATE NETWORK

KENT, OHIO: (O.G.R.C.) Ohio Gay Rights Coalition held it's 6th meeting at Grazier Hall in the Presbyterian Church at Kent State University, Sunday, August 7th.

Over ten gay organizations participated in the meeting trying to establish unification of their various groups and task forces. Among these groups were: Akron Gay Coalition for Human Rights, AGCHR Central Ohio Lesbians (COL), Columbus Gay Coalition (CGC), Dignity of Columbus, Gay Activist Alliance

NEW GEAR ON SEPT. 16

Because of the Labor Day holiday, the High Gear staff has agreed not to print the next issue until September 16. The original schedule would have called for an issue on September 9. We are doing this because many of us are vacationing out of town Labor Day weekend, and we think we're entitled to a rest, without the everimposing deadline. Thanks for waiting a week, Ohio....

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(GAA), and The Kent Gay Liberproved and completed so that ation Front.

The OGRC is now forming a statewide communications network to facilitate sharing information concerning gay issues and activities in Ohio. The network will be organized on a county to county basis. Each OGRC county contact person will be responsible for organizing a telephone network of individuals, organizations, and media lists in their county. It is imperative that OGRC's state communication system be im-

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they can be an effective and formidable force in the State of Ohio.

To date, OGRC has only 9 county contacts out of 88 counties in the State of Ohio. OGRC NEEDS BOTH SUPPORT AND HELP NOW! IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE AN OGRC CONTACT PERSON, SEND YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER, AND COUNTY TO

O.G.R.C.

1345 Highland Street Columbus, Ohio 43201

WOMEN'S SEMINAR, AUG. 27 28

CLEVELAND Women Space wants to make its members aware of a special opportunity for all Ohio women. One of our member groups, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, is cosponsoring, along with the Ohio Women's Political Caucus, LUNA, the AFL-CIO, the Ohio Education Association and the UAW, a two-day training August 27, and 28, at the SheratonColumbus Hotel.

This is a great opportunity for Ohio women to be trained in the political arena. We must begin to run for office ourselves and also help get candidates elected who will vote for issues that are vital to us.

You will note that there are two keynote speakers. One is

Congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar (D-20) Cleveland. She is a person who has continuously voted for issues that concern working people and is a supporter of Women's Rights. The other keynote speaker is Fayh Williams, a prominent Black Democrat, who is Chief Counsel to the Indiana Senate and a former National Board Member of the League of Women Voters.

We urge you to attend this very important event and bring as many of your sisters with you as possible.

If you need more registration forms, you can write a Barb Janis, 3233 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44115, or call her at 391-1765.

We look forward to seeing you in Columbus.

YOUNGSTOWN RADIO BANS O.J. ADS

On July 14th Radio Station WGFT, Youngstown, Ohio, announced its intentions to delete all Florida Citrus Commission commercials featuring Anita Bryant from its ABC Network news and sports programming and to refuse any direct advertising from the Citrus Commission. A second ABC affiliate, WILI in Williamantic, Connecticut, has since joined WGFT in this policy.

WGFT is a contemporary rock-disco-soul station operating on 1500 kHz, serving over 700,000 people in Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. WILI covers about the same population in the Hartford area. WGFT's Vice President and General Manager, John T. Galanses, stated in the letter to ABC that "these commercials broadcast over WGFT risk offending a substantial portion of our audience because of Ms. Bryant's inflammatory statements...we cannot, in good conscience, run commercials recorded by a personality who has created so much controversy and hate." According to Galanses, virtually the entire staff of his station expressed total support of this policy.

At the request of the Citrus Commission, the network's vice president contacted both stations in an attempt to reverse their decisions, but both managers remained steadfast in

their decisions. According to Galanses, one high level ABC executive called him after hours congratulating him on his decision and indicating that many ABC employees who were aware shared his views.

Federal Communications Commission rules provide that stations have the obligation to review all programming for suitability, regardless of whether such programs originate at the station or from a network.. OTHER ABC STATIONS

WIXY Cleveland WWWW (FM) Detroit WOHO Toledo WCUE Akron WINW Canton WDIF(FM) Marion WIZE Springfield WNCI (FM) Columbus WDAO (FM) Cincinnati WEIR Weirton, W. Va. WKST New Castle, Pa. KQV Pittsburgh WCCK (FM) Erie

GAY HEALTH CARE Inside this issue on page 111 is a questionnaire surveying the attitudes of gays toward the health care they receive. For the good health of the gay community, we urge everyone to reply to this questionnaire.