OCTOBER 1975

HIGH GEAR

Gay Priest Raps Catholic Sex Reactions To P D

Doctrine

PITTSBURGH A Roman Catholic priest, who is a selfadmitted homosexual has written a book attacking church doctrine on sex. The Reverend Richard Ginder, 61, said he seeks to dismantle Catholic arguments aginst homosexuality, birth control, divorce, and premarital sex in his book, "Bind With Briars: Sex and Sin in the Catholic Church." (Prentice-Hall).

"The Church has always condemned sex, all sex, as pretty much a dirty business, despite all its apologists to the contrary," Father Ginder said from his Vincentian Home in nearby McCandless Township.

Father Ginder was founder and worked for 24 years as editor of "The Priest," a national journal for the Catholic clergy.

L.A. Says Yes To Gay Police

LOS ANGELES A historic first. Despite consistent objections from Police Chief Edward M. Davis, the Los Angeles City Civil Service Commission voted unanimously Friday, September 26, to adopt new stan. dards that allow homosexuals on the Los Angeles Police Department,

Boy Raped

Young Boy Raped

At Terminal CLEVELAND Two boys both age 11 were accosted by an 18 year old man in the men's room at The Cleveland Union Terminal. Police said the boy who was raped and his friend from Shaker Hts. were in the game room round 5:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 29, when two older youths started harassing them. The suspect appeared, pretended to be the boys' protector and got them into the men's room. The boy who was raped had injuries that included multiple bite marks. He was treated at St. Vincent Charity Hospital. The rapist has not been apprehended. He was described as black, short haired, sporting a thin moustache, and chin whiskers. The day of the rape he wore a red shortsleeved shirt, blue denim trousers and white faded low-cut tennis shoes.

was

He was also associate editor of the weekly. "Our Sunday Visitor," a journal with than 1 million subscribers. Ironically, at one time, Ginder was a leading Catholic crusader against smut until he arrested on a morals charge in 1969. Then, according to The Associated Press, detectives entered his apartment and found dozens of photographs of teenage youths in homosexual acts and diaries covering three previous years. Ginder pleaded guilty to several of the 52 morals charges and spent six years under psychiatric care and hospitalization in church facilities all for being gay.

Ginder hopes his literary endeavor will vindicate him from the past unjust moral cusations.

ac-

Macho Gays HOLLYWOOD Dr. Joyce Brothers declared recently on The Merv Griffin Show that "Homosexuals are the only ones who are concerned with masculinity. A homosexual does not like women and therefore wants a man who looks like a man with all the trappings of a masculine man."

Gay Ex-Marine Saves Ford's Life

SAN FRANCISCO Oliver Sipple, 32, has been credited with deflecting Sarah Moore's pointed 38 caliber gun away from President Ford in a recent assasination attempt. Sipple, a gay activist in San Francisco, has considerable ties with the S.F. MCC. At a news conference, Sipple said his mother was distraught and shamed by publicity concerning her son's sexual preferences, and had hung up on him when he phoned her in Detroit.

Sipple has subsequently filed a $15 million invasion of privacy suit against the news media for reporting that he was gay. The suit claims that through news reports, "Sipple's family learned for the first time of his homosexual orientation and accordingly and consequentially abandoned the plaintiff." In addition, the suit says he "was exposed to contempt and ridicule, causing him great mental anguish, embarrassment, and humiliation." The suit newspapers and their parent companies The Chronicle. The L.A. Times, The Chicago Sun Times, The Denver Post, The San Antonio Express, The Indianoplis Star, and The Des Moines Register.

names

seven

Shortly after the assassination attempt, the news media stirred up some controversey by im. plying Ford was hesitant send Sipple a thank you note because of his homosexuality. The White House denied this and soon after telegrammed Sipple a letter of gratitude.

CLEVELAND On September 28th, The Cleveland Plain Dealer printed a full page spotlight on the gay movement in Northeastern Ohio. One article as devoted to the issue of local gay rights and focused directly on the GEAR Foundation, The other, presented a feature on the activities of the Metropolitan Community Church.

Since the article's publication, the Gay Hotline (631-5330) has been innundated with phone calls. According to a GEAR spokesperson, the standard call was from a person in his/her early 20's or late 30's who had never been able to discuss their sexual orientations with anyone else. Calls averaged 15 to 20 minutes in length. Several inquiries also came from the media requesting appearances on talk shows, radio programs, and organizational speaking engagements. These are being handled accordingly

were

Nearly thirty letters. received ranging from a prisoner in Lucasville to a local area transvestite. Reverend Art Macdonald has been asked to preach at several different churches and reports that a number of monetary donations were sent in from "closet people" who support gay church efforts but do not wish to become openly involved. GEAR members active in the political scene reported some harassing phone calls and threats, but none "that would dissuade us."

Page

Spa Rape Gay Businesses

CLEVELAND A Cleveland man who claims he is an assistant manger of a West Side health spa was arrested by police September 27, for forcing a boy of 16 into a sexual act at gunpoint. The Lakewood boy responded to an ad in The Press which was recruiting males 16 to 22 years old to work at a health club. The boy was told he would be a masseur and make as much as $100 a day in tips if he gave the customer what the customer wanted,

Realizing he was being asked to perform sex acts with men, the boy tried to leave. The man, however, pointed a .38-caliber derringer at the boy and forced him to perform a sex act in the bedroom of a Puritas Ave. SW apartment.

The boy was later driven to Bellaire Rd. at W. 117th where he subsequently contacted the police. The rapist's age was estimated at 22. Detectives said the spa may be a front for a male prostitution ring. Note: the incident had nothing to do with the Bellaire Enterprises or the Cleveland Baths.

"Butley" Returns

CLEVELAND The critically acclaimed movie Butley begins an exclusive engagement at the Lowes Cedar Center 2, 13951 Cedar, and The Beach Cliff, 19200 Detroit, on Friday, October 10th. Starring Alan Bates, Butley is an intensive character study of a homosexual professor. It has been proclaimed a "masterpiece" by The Washington Star News.

Plan Alliance

CLEVELAND Twiggy's, Rikki's Godmother's II, Gypsy's and the 9th Street Club Baths are considering the creation of a local gay business federation for the Greater Cleveland area. A spokesman for the group told High Gear the union is now only in its talking stages. Hopes are high that The Bayou Landing, The Rainbow, 620, The 32nd Street Club Baths, and other surrounding gay establishments will join the proposed league.

Such a formation is of important significance to the local gay community. A gay business alliance would have the ability to sponsor city-wide social functions and summer picnics, and provide a central political/financial hub of power in Cleveland. Similar co-operative efforts in Toledo and Detroit have strengthened local citizenry and benefited all gays.

Matlovich Update

HAMPTON, Va. Air Force Secretary John L. McLucas has granted gay Sergeant Leonard Matlovich an honorable discharge instead of the general one recommended by the Air Force administrative discharge board. Matlovich maintains the decision will not affect his efforts to remain in the Air Force as a practicing homosexual. He vows to continue his fight through superior courts.

HIGH GEAR

Vol. II,

Gay Police

Rejected For

Cleveland

Force

A Publication of the Gear Foundation, Issue 1975

in-

CLEVELAND citysponsored advisory commission to the Cleveland chief of police recently submitted various recommendations on hiring practices. among which cluded admission of gays to the police force. Police Chief Lloyd F. Garey rejected all of the commission's recommendations and opted for a "quota system" of hiring. Gary said so long as he is in charge. "homosexuals and convicted felons will be barred from the force."

1975 The Gear Foundation,

Dorothy Strikes Again

CLEVELAND In her news commentary on September 18, Dorothy Fuldheim delivered statements which were plainly denigrating to the gay citizenry

of Northeastern Ohio. More specifically, she announced and emphasized that gays were "abnormal" and that people who did not produce children were "productive of nothing." She decried the efforts of homosexuals to publicize their struggle for civil rights and characterized gays as "mistakes of nature."

In response to a letter of protest, WEWS agreed to permit a representative of the GEAR Foundation to issue a reply on its In My Opinion program. The sixty second segment was broadcast four times during the weekend of October 4th. It read:

"The gay community of Northeastern Ohio was offended recently when a news commentator remarked that homosexuals were "mistakes of

nature" and "abnormal." We at The Gay Educational and Awareness Resources Foundation feel that such remarks are out of character with enlightened public broadcasting. "Abnormal is a convenient term to use for anything which is merely different and unpopular. Homosexuality is no more abnormal than red hair, left handedness, or being more than six feet tall."

"Last year the American Psychological Association reaffirmed that homosexuality is not a mental illness. Gays deserve the same rights and liberties accorded all free Americans. We do not wish to be anything but ourselves. We're gay and we're mighty proud of it."

GEAR was surprised to receive overwhelming support following the brief broadcasts from straight and gay viewers in the form of numerous phone calls and correspondences.