rage 4

HIGH GEAR

DECEMBER 1976

INTERNAL STRIFE MARS G.A.U. CONFERENCE

By NEIL CALDWELL

NEW YORK The fourth annual Gay Academic Union Conference was held this past Thanksgiving weekend at Columbia University. The Gay Academic Union is an organization dedicated to opposing all forms of discrimination against women and gays in the academic community. GAU works to support academics in the process of coming out and promotes new approaches to study of the gay experience. Another main concern of GAU is to encourage the teaching of gay studies throughout the American educational system.

The attendance at this year's conference was smaller than in the past. Total registration was between 600 and 700 women and men. Past conferences have attracted as many as 1000 gays. The theme for this year's keynote session was "The Role of Lesbians and Gay Men in Politics." Jean O'Leary and Jim Owles presented the keynote speeches.

elected

Jean O'Leary, delegate to this year's Democratic National Convention, told. the conference why she feels that the election of a Democratic administration will be good for women and gays. (O'Leary is currently co-executive director of the National Gay Task Force.) She said, "NGTF has requested Governor Milton Shapp's commission on sexual minorities and a

number of prominent women politicians and leaders

to

submit to Carter in their issues papers the fact that we would like to have an executive order that Carter would commit his administration to working for an end to the discrimination against gay people."

In an interview about her future plans, O'Leary said that she has been appointed to the 51.3% Committee, which will ad vise Carter on humanistic issues. Other prominent gays on this committee are Elaine Noble, Massachusetts state legislator, and Joe Daily, who works with the Human Rights Commission in San Francisco.

O'Leary also mentioned that she, Noble, and Daily have made a lot of friends through their work in the campaign to elect Carter. "Some of these people will be very close to him in Washington through appointments," she believes, and "things like this will help gays get through to Carter."

Jim Owies, who in 1973 was the first openly gay candidate for the New York City Council, spoke about the need for radicals in the gay movement. (Owles at present is president of the Gay Political Union.) He said, "What I would like to see happen again in the movement is to seek a revitalization of our

radical, our militant, wing." Owles felt this way because "it's going to be necessary for some time we're talking about 10 to 15 years before legislation can be passed before a lot of things are going to change in the media. That means we still need a strong militant wing in this movement." Owles remarks were well received by the audience, as they illustrated by their applause.

O'Leary's and Owles's speeches were two of the few high points of the conference. Others included remarks by Rita Mae Brown, lesbian feminist author, and Stephen Morin, gay professor and researcher. Morin spoke about his personal coming out as a college professor, and about some of his research in homophobia. Brown spoke briefly about some myths about gays that need to be corrected. Her remarks, as well as Morin's, will be featured on an upcoming Radio Free Lambda broadcast.

This year's conference was divided into six sessions, each with five or six workshops to choose from. A few of the subjects covered in the workshops were transsexuality, the gay adolescent, setting up gay studies courses, sadomasochism, recent research on homosexual behavior, and lesbian mothers. On the surface it appears that there enough variety to satisfy everyone, but that wasn't the case. There were many topics concerning socialism and anarchism, which may be issues for

was

a political conference but were inappropriate in such abundance at an academic conference. On the other hand, subjects like separatism and sexism were almost completely ignored. Also apparent was the lack of workshops on women's issues and racism.

It wasn't clear why some topics were omitted or avoided, but if there is another conference careful consideration should be given to the subject matter.

Will there be another conference? This was the main topic of discussion at the annual business meeting, since the New York chapter seems unwilling to host another conference. If the problems plaguing the New York chapter of GAU are common to other chapters, there probable won't be another conference. GAU/New York has formed a committee to try to locate another city to host next year's convention; whether this will happen will be decided by February 1, 1977.

As was mentioned previously, the New York chapter of GAU has many organizational problems. These came to a head when the women's caucus disbanded and issued the following statement:

"From the beginning the women of the New York chapterof the Gay Academic Union have repeatedly stated that we would not continue our association with the Gay Academic Union unless it was a feminist organization, feminist in

movement. The GAU conferences have in the past been a valuable plart of the movement. All gays should do everything in their power to promote solidarity in the movement so that we can work constructively to gain our civil and human rights. One can only hope that GAU continues to be an asset to the gay movement.

let's just

go to bed

By Jerry Juszczyk

volver,

what shall we blast tonight? need this gore, so cock your my trigger's hot for blood. lip.

its actions, goals, and the means by which these goals are achieved. In this spirit we succeeded in passing the following resolutions: 1) that the first goals of the Gay Academic Union be "to oppose all forms of discrimination against all women within academia; 2) that the Gay Academic Union be divided into women's and men's caucuses and that the men's caucus devote part of its energy to consciousness-raising activities which would increase the men's awareness and understanding of sexism; and 3) that power within the Gay Academic Union be equally divided between the women and the men. "Although the women were successful in achieving some of their demands it has become in-The shotgun cranked to a recreasingly difficult for women to continue participating in the Gay Academic Union or even in the women's caucus. The Gay Academic Union has neither been liberationist nor academic, and conflicts arose between those who preferred the Gay Academic Union to be more radical and liberationist and those who preferred a more traditionally academic organization. Those who were more tradtional in their approach gradually controlled the conference committee. The conference, which became the focal point of the New York chapter, increasingly ignored the needs of the more radical and feminist women and men. Furthermore, the structure that evolved in the New York chapter alienated many women, for in order to operate within the structure the bulk of each caucus meeting had to be spent discussing general business rather than discussing lesbian feminist issues and scholarship.

"For these reasons we, the women of the women's caucus, have decided that it is counterproductive to expend any more of Our energies in this organization. In the interests of our own liberation, we declare our autonomy and disband the women's caucus of the Gay Academic Union, New York chapter."

In an interview, Ann Gregory, who resigned as vice-president of the New York chapter of GAU, stated, "the women's caucus of the New York chapter will probably form a separate organization for academic women."

Every time a gay organization must split, it is a blow to the whole movement. There is a duplication of services and functions, and thus it takes more people to accomplish the same goals. This causes a great waste of human resources that could be used in new areas instead of wasted by doing the same jobs. Gays need national conferences to exchange ideas and to promote growth in the

General guardarian is about to spit.

A backfire bashed bent in the street.

Hundreds of people looked to

see

If that in fact was the artillery of a death squad's cry of forsaken love.

I pulled on my blind to lift up the slide. Looked out the door. Couldn't believe the sight. My eyes are encased Oh christ, no more! in the sausage skins of space. We've all got the saddened, trivial face.

same

I danced on the clouds, tripped on the stars. Flipped up on venus, laughed

out loud

At the absurdity of argyles, who lead our lives, from sequestered thrones above anguished sighs. Reap the crop, lacquered Languid. Peanuts snatch. Did you ever just want to go to bed?

Tell it all. We're just pawns. Afraid of decisions.

live affectlessful lives. clinging to the past, we see no future.

Oh call the butcher knife of fright.

Have it slit the throat of bastardly lies.

Erect a stalk on a hill underground.

Oozing pus drips from sweet apple toast; it frowns.

Do you think what I say is insane?

You fool! All you need do is pick your own brain. You'll find the answers. Not all you'll like of course, but no one is a prize-winning farce.

You are what you suck. Oh forget all this jive. Let's just go to bed, and bury every inch of our pride.