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2 for 1 on Bar Brand Liquor Draft Beer Night Show Night Showtime 10 & 12:30 Happy Hour 11-2 am Disco & Dance

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ALL GAY BOBLO CRUISE Sunday August 16th 8 p.m.

Tickets on sale at the METRA PICNIC JULY 5th

$1200 in Advance $1500 at the Gate

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So arrange your party early

Disco Dancing and Many Surprises

MEET DETROIT'S HOTTEST GAY MEN &

WOMEN

(A Presentation of "Man Productions")

Due to limited space and expected demand, Get your ticket at the Metra Picnic

According to the Concept Summary prepared by Sen. Laxalt's office, the three area specifically related to day civil rights in last session's bill were:

Concept 36: Which would prohibit legal service funds for homosexual rights litigation (later became "McDonald Amendment" which could have prohibited gay citizens access to that taxpayer funded program)

•Concept 37: A section which would forbid allocation of federal funds under any authority from being awarded to any organization, group or other entity which advocates homosexuality or presents homosexuality as an acceptable alternative lifestyle (some fear that this provision is most likely to be separated out as a bill or an amendment).

•Concept 38: a provision which would write into law a statement that discrimination against declared homosexuals would never be considered an "unlawful employment practice." (This is believed to probably have the impact, among other things, of turning back the clock on civil service reform for non-discrimination for gays.).

At this writing, this co-called family legislation has not yet been reintroduced in the 97th Congress. But it has been learned that Senator Laxalt, under substantial pressure by Moral Majority and the New Right, has agreed to again be chief sponsor of the bill. Laxalt, who was reportedly afraid that his sponsorship would imply Reagan support that isn't necessarily so, is planning to separate the bill into four separate bills. How the provisions will relate to the original bill are not yet known. Connie Marshner, leader of the so-called family unit of the Free Congress Foundation, indicated that the splitting of the bill represented the move from a largely-symbolic bill in the 96th to legislation that Marshner described as the "New Right" top legislative priority this session. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Chair of the Senate's Labor and Human Resources Committee, has promised prompt hearings. GRNL stated "We have a fundamental disagreement with the premises on which the "Family Protection Act" is based. If bills such as this, which attempt to artificially regulate and enforce a narrowly defined traditional family is in more danger than we had thought. Surely the institution of the family is not so weak that we must deny justice and basic civil rights of some groups in our society in order to ensure its survival."

Further, it is ironic that this legislation would be put forward in the name of "conservative principles" when it systematically provides for government intervention in private lives. The longcherished principles of local and state control rather than federal government domination has apparently been abandoned as the "Family Protection Act" would impose the "federal will" in a host of areas. D

...Riders Perhaps Pose Greatest Danger

Despite an increasingly Right-leaning Congress and anti-gay chairmen of key Senate committees, it is generally easier to stop anti-justice initiatives in Congress when they are in the form of bills rather than amendments.

The reason is really pretty simple. A bill generally must go through a long and cumbersome process of subcommittee and committee action, etc., which provides far more opportunities to kill or cripple the bill. Amendments, also known as "riders," are much more difficult. They can come unexpectedly on the floor of the House and/or Senate; their language can (as in the case of the McDonald amendment to the Legal Services legislation) take far different form than expected; and, of course, eliminate many possible roadblocks. In addition, even when one correctly anticipates a floor amendment (as Gay Rights National Lobby did in 1980) it is difficult to rally the supporting coalition groups and mobilize the grassroots constituent support. At that point, it is admittedly just a hunch.

GNRL Executive Director Steve Endean therefore predicted that the lesbian and gay male communities have the most to fear from the unpredictable riders in the 97th. D

METRA MAGAZINE 26