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Today's Living

TUESDAY, JULY 12, 1977

SECTION B

The Plain Dealer/Mitchael J. Zaremba

The Rev. Dan Richmond, left, and Dan Little working on the New Hope newsletter of the Metropolitan Community Church Fellowship.

Homosexuals find haven in church

By Jane Scott

"The Lord Is My Shepherd and He Knows I'm Gay."

This is not only the title of a book, but the cornerstone philosophy of two gay congregations in Greater Cleveland.

It's Thursday evening. Nineteen young men have come for mass at the Hallinan Center's Catholic chapel on the Case Western Reserve University campus. This precedes a meeting of Dignity, a Catholic gay group.

The Rev. Joseph J. Lang, a tall, amply built priest, blessed the con-

One of a series

gregation. "We can recognize the Father calling to us and know that we belong to Him," he said.

One by one the young men came up for communion, under the double sign of bread and wine. Their voices raised in song to "I Hear My Father Call My Name.'

"

It's Sunday at 2 p.m. Eighteen young men and a woman listen to a bearded minister talking about idols at the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) Fellowship, 2728 Lancashire Rd., Cleveland Heights.

The

Gay Scene

A young man sits in the front row, awkwardly aware of his hands and feet. A Jewish man in Bermuda shorts is in the second row.

"It's so easy to get into bad company. So easy to gradually accept idolatry into our lives," the Rev. Dan Richmond said.

After the sermon, the middle-aged woman went to the rostrum and thanked God for the blessings which have come to her this week.

Each church-goer at each service listens with rapt attention, drinking in the words: Each is gay.

"This is a spiritual uplift they could have in no other way," said Father Lang, taking the "Father Joe" tag off of his black robe. He is assigned from St. Philomena Church on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month.

The Catholic church is scared witless by gay people, Father Lang feels. In some areas, the prejudice is irrational..

"But being gay is an involuntary condition, isn't it?" he asked.

Father Lang does private counseling. Nothing forced, just available if needed.

"I was really lost. I'd lost communication with my family and my old friends. Then, when I felt left out of the church, I really didn't know where to turn," one Catholic man told Father Lang. "I feel as if I'm in touch with God again now."

Dignity is four years old and is open to anyone. Its meetings are on the second and fourth Thursdays at 8 p.m.

The Catholic church recognizes it, but doesn't talk much about it, Father Lang admitted.

After the mass, a large group came to the Dignity meeting. The gathering of around 80 sat in a circle in the Hallinan lounge.

Among them are a college teacher, a high school teacher, an employment counselor, a doctor; several lesbians, salespeople, students and a senior

citizen. Some have come from Akron and Youngstown.

Max, a librarian and the president of Dignity, announced a summer picnic, a cookout and a “bring a straight friend night" on July 28.

The group rapped about housing, stereotypes and employment.

"The stereotype of the loud, outrageous gay man is based on the visible gay. Most gays are not in the open. You probably don't even know them," said Max.

"I know many who have been liv ing together since college and are now in their 60s. They don't surface. They live their lives quietly and peaceably and don't go to bars."added Phil.

Women find it easier to live a gay life because they are less visible, said a lesbian.

Many said they were denied apartments in some suburbs when they applied for one together.

There is nothing in Ohio or federal law that protects gays from discrimination in the way that it applies to race, color, religion or national! origin.

Some said afterward that they had felt estranged from the Catholic church, but did not want to switch religions.

"The gay person is totally unprepared. When you come out, there are no rules to turn to. You're older, maybe in your late teens or 20s, and don't know how to act. Who makes the first move toward friendship? You have no parent to advise you. You're operating without rules," said Andy.

The older man in the group said that he didn't "come out" for a long time because he felt that gays dressed funny. He found that that was just a minority.

The Rev. Mr. Richmond discovered that he was gay when he was 14. "I thought that I was the only one in the world. It's a terrifying feeling," he said.

He later left his home town, Philadelphia, joined the Army and tried to lead a straight life. He became a television news editor in Texas, enrolled in a seminary there and then the Bible Institute.

He did a lot of prison work, served on Gov. Milton J. Shapp's task force on prisons in Pennsylvania. He was asked to be the national prison director for the Universalist Fellowship. He happened to stop in Cleveland and felt the need here for a gay church.

The fellowship formerly met at St. John's Episcopal Church in Ohio City three years ago.

"The Metropolitan Community Church is eight years old now. It was founded by the Rev. Troy Perry, the one who wrote "The Lord Is My Shepherd and He Knows I'm Gay.'” said the Rev. Mr. Richmond.

His church is now in six foreign countries and is the fastest-growing denomination in the world he said.

His church formerly fostered the Gay Hot Line until calls became too numerous to handle.

"I counted up, and I found that I had handled 6,600 calls. There's a larger community of gay people in this area than many suspect," he said.

The MCC puts out a monthly newsletter, New Hope. One of its tenets is that "Every person is justified by grace to God through faith in Jesus Christ."

But an article, "God's Gays," is particularly appropriate:

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