Page 2
HIGH GEAR journal is a publication of the Gay Educational and Awareness Resources (GEAR) Foundation of Cleveland, Ohio. It is distributed free of charge in any establishment, and with any organization, that will permit distribution. We are a non-profit publication, and all proceeds not used to pay printing costs and service fees are set aside for the use of the GEAR Foundation's Community Center.
The presence of the name or picture or other representation of an organization, place of business, or person(s) in HIGH GEAR is not necessarily indicative. of the sexual orientation of such organizations, businesses, or persons, and may not be used as evidence of the sexual orientation of any contributors.
We welcome all contributions of written materials, art work, or photography by members of the gay community. All materials submitted for publication are subject to editorilization. We cannot guarantee the return of materials submitted for publication, whether used by HIGH GEAR or not, unless it is accompanied by a stamped. self-addressed envelope.
Anyone interested in working on the staff of HIGH GEAR should inquire by calling 696-5330, or write to HIGH GEAR STAFF, P.O. Box 6177, Cleveland, Ohio 44101.
Businesses or oragnizations wishing to advertise in HIGH GEAR may obtain advertising rate sheets and other information by calling 696-5330, or writing to Advertising, HIGH GEAR. P.O. Box 6177, Cleveland, Ohio, 44101.
The deadline for HIGH GEAR publication dates is as follows: Advertising by the 30th of every month, camera-ready and composition ads.
Written material by the 5th of every month. News items until publication.
HIGH GEAR is available at bars, baths, universities, businesses and elsewhere the second Friday of every month.
HIGH GEAR is copyrighted under federal law. Any reproduction of its contents is prohibited unless either written or verbal permission is obtained.
Managing Editors
Advertising Coordinator.
Art Direction....
Photography.
General Staff.
STAFF
..John Nosek, Leon Stevens
......Matt Phillips) ..Rudolf Haaken ..David Holleb, Chris Jacobson ...Don Avery, Peter Barrosse,
Tom Eville, Rudolf Haaken, David Holleb, Jerry Juszczyk, John Kline, Marc Lewis, Dee Lorenz, Donna Minkler, Matt Phillips, Anne Ritchey, John Vogel Guest Contributors
..Michael Manigu, Charles Stellaj
Published by The Gay Educational and Awareness Resources Foundation Circulation .10,000 Distribution. ...Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Cleveland Hts., Columbus, Dayton, Kent, Lima, Toledo, Warren, Youngstown.
GEAR Gay Film
-
CLEVELAND The Gear Foundation will be producing a film on Gay Life in Cleveland. Anyone with ideas on the film's thame or subject areas should contact the GEAR Foundation, P.O. Box 6177, Cleveland, 44101 or call 696-5330 and leave a message. Also people are needed who have experience in film-making and acting. Anyone having access to 16mm film and/or sound equipment, or who can donate or loan materials to help defray the costs of the production are urged to contact the GEAR Foundation immediately. So far some B&W film stock has been donated. Any proceeds from the film will go towards the Gay Community Services Center.
HIGH GEAR
Kent Students
Support Gays
Kent State University is conducting a survey to determine how students want their $9.00 contribution to student organizations allocated. A computerized form was sent to all undergraduates to be returned by January 15th.
On the form, each student can list the organizations which she/he wants to support. One of the choices is the Kent Gay Liberation Front (KGLF). If 25% or more of the forms are returned, each organization will be allotted funds proportional to voter priorities.
KGLF co-chairpersons, Wendy Gaylord and Bill Hoover have urged all KGLF members and their friends to make a large designation for KGLF to insure adequate funding. Although the forms may contain student numbers, Hoover says the survey is anonymous. The information goes to the student caucus and they will not divulge how individuals have voted.
Robbery in Warren
WARREN The Alpine Bar in Warren was hit by burglars for the second time on Tuesday, December 9. The two burglaries resulted in the loss of $1400 in money and liquor according to owner-manager Walt Bartlick.
Entry was gained during the early morning hours by prying the back door off its hinges with a hydraulic jack. Money was taken from the cash register and a large quantity of liquor was removed from the backroom storage area.
Since the burglary the Alpine has installed a fool-proof burglar alarm and moved the surplus liquor into locked cabinets.
The Warren police, according to a department spokesman, have interviewed a suspect who is being held in custody out of town, pending the filing of charges. The suspect is a West Virginian who had the cooperation of three straight "friends" of the bar, according to Bartlick. Possible charges against the suspect are grand larceny and an additional federal charge because the stolen liquor was purchased from a wholesaler and therefore untaxed.
Throughout the investigation the cooperation from the authorities has been "beautiful," says Bartlick. There is "no possibility of getting it back" continued Bartlick, but with the help of friends and family the Alpine has made it through the crisis.
·
JANUARY 1976
1975 More Gay Teacher's Rights
In addition to the gay rights assured for government employees through the July 3, 1975, guidelines prepared by the United States Civil Service Commission, teachers in two cities and the District of Columbia had their rights defended in decisions during the past year.
On June 17, the San Francisco Board of Education voted UNANIMOUSLY to outlaw discrimination against homosexual teachers. This was a reversal of a June 3 decision which would have prohibited discrimination in most areas except "sexual orientation." The gay community protested loudly and in unison. At the next meeting two weeks later the gays' protest met with success.
Erie, Pa. Gay Loses Job
ERIE PA. James Patrick Temple, a cab driver in Erie Pa., has been charged with "involuntary deviate sex" and as a result has been fired from his job.. Temple has proclaimed his innocence of all charges.
Temple claims that on October 19 when he was using the rest room at the bus station, a 19 year old Gannon College student propositioned him. He refused and left. Later when Temple had stopped while passing the bus station, the student opened the door and got in. The youth, says Temple, then tried to force himself on Temple.
The youth later told police that Temple had kidnapped him and forceably performed oral sex on him. The student said that he submitted because he feared for his life.
Following the arrest bail was set at $5000, later reduced to $2500 and finally to $1000. Until bail could be raised, Temple spent one week in jail. During this week there were no hassles according to Temple because no one there knew the charges.
After being charged Temple was fired from his job with the Yellow Cab Company. When Mr. Harper of the Yellow Cab Company was contacted by High Gear, he said, "I don't think I want to discuss that with you." Temple filed a grievance with the Teamster's Union, but no action has been taken.
The kidnapping charges were dropped after the accuser admitted, under the examination of Temple's attorney Gustaves McGeorge, that he was not forced to get into the McGeorge told High Gear that
car.
he thinks there is a good chance the case will be thrown out of court. According to one observer close to the case, the accuser is "as nutty as a fruitcake."
If convicted, the law calls for a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $15,000.
One of the members of the San Francisco Board of Education, Dr. Eugene Hopp, said that he had conferred with psychiatrists who had advised him that homosexuality was withdrawn from the American Psyhciatric Association's list of pathological states two years ago. Furthermore, he said, "I am advised that incidence of overt acts to children is no greater among homosexuals that among heterosexuals."
School boards in New York City and Washington, D.C. have also adopted hiring policies banning discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. The California Supreme Court has ruled that homosexuality bears no necessary relationship to fitness to teach and that a homosexual cannot be excluded from public employment without specific evidence of unfitness to teach.
What about Ohio in 1976? Where gays have banded together and spoken often and loudly, their rights have been assured and discriminatory practices have at least been acknowledged if not eliminated at least officially. The question is not whether Ohio's legislators will grant such legislation, but rather whether Ohio gays are willing to work for it!
Catholics Get Another
Book on Gays
on
A recent article in the New York Times reports that Rome has allowed the Reverend John McNeill, a Jesuit, to go ahead and publish his book homosexuality. The priest's superiors had ordered him to stop writing and speaking on the subject over a year ago. Father McNeill obeyed.
Father McNeill, founder of the New York chapter of Dignity, agreed to the silence imposed upon him because "I wasn't about to go ahead and publish a condemned book." His reasoning was that such a book wouldn't help the homosexual. (Father Richard Ginder's recently published book Binding with Briars does not carry the Church's seal of approval known as the Imprimatur.)
In giving approval for the publication of the book, yet untitled, the Jesuit Superior General Father Arrupe agreed that "there are good and positive elements" in the manuscript. "One can join with his expression of concern about the civil and ecclesiastical discrimination and persecution meted out to the homosexual in the course of history."
The book will be published by Sheed and Ward sometime this year and will be another in at long line of books by Catholic theologians about the homosexual. Perhaps, the Church in Cleveland will eventually admit to their
existence!