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It appears that the impossible has finally happened. Life, and I mean real life, has come to Cleveland's gay community!

It started with the changeover of Fellowship Community Church to an MCC. By now most of my readers should be aware of what MCC is, but for those of you who are here for the first. time, let me recap the situation. MCC stands for Metropolitan Community Church, and it also stands for equality among gay men and women, hard work for the community, and, oh, yes, an opportunity to express the need for religious. life in the gay world. MCC has a sterling reputation around the country, and I can assure you, is hardly a rip-off, as some of our more viscious brothers and sisters have been intimat. ing.

Next, we have the much awaited community center opening this month. After months of being told it couldn't be done, the GEAR Foundation has managed to put together a program of service, get the space for the center donated, and find people in the community who are responsible adults, to sit on the board that will manage the center. For those of you who are interested, this newspaper, HIGH GEAR, is taking it's profit to fund the center. So tell the places that you patronize to advertise with us, and support something good, for a change. And don't forget to thank our current advertisers for their support of the community, as well!

The programs that will get the center off to a wonderful start will be; a VD clinic for gays only, staffed by qualified doctors and assistants; counselling (free) in the evenings, by qualified personell; a gay youth club, on weekends at first, and then maybe into the week, depending upon the response of the under 21 crowd. The GEAR Hotline will be located in the new

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manned (and womanhed year and will be if enough people will volunteer to give a few hours a week to help the center. The calls are coming in now at a rate of about 40 per week, and the service is needed, as anyone who has had to use it will tell you. There are some new bars in town, or at least newly discovered. The Rainbow, on E9 St., just 2 blocks south of Euclid, is like an oasis in the wilderness. The decor is not terribly sophisticated, and the crystal queens of the community might have difficulty coping with it, but the atmosphere is warm and friendly, and most of all, comfortable. People talk to you, and the drinks are cheap, but not stingy. They have food available, too, and it's good. Drop in next time you are downtown, and feel tired of the same old thing at one of the other clubs. I think you will like it. More on the other clubs in the next few issues,

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