SILKS SILKS SILKS

SILKS

Where The

Hot Men Are...

MONDAY, MARCH 14

HAIRSPRAY

PARTY

Bring in your hairspray, Chiclets, or Stridex Mini Pads for your FREE special "Hairspray" shot! PRIZES SPECIAL DRINKS HAIRSPRAY MONEY CLIPS ALL NIGHT LONG 8 PM-2 AM

SUNDAY

CRAZY DAZZ $1.00 BLOODY MARYS MONDAY

SPECIAL PARTY NITE

TUESDAY

HAPPY HOUR ALL DAY/ALL NITE

WEDNESDAY

CUERVO SPECIALS $1.00

THURSDAY

BEER BUST

$1.00 DOMESTIC & RED STRIPE 500 DRAFT 500 SCHNAPPS $3.00 PITCHERS

$1.00 SOUTHERN COMFORT

FRIDAY & SATURDAY PARTY NITE!

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK MONDAY-SATURDAY 11AM-2 AM SUNDAY 1 PM-2 AM

FREE PARKING IN GARDEN AVENUE GARAGE 103 S. GARDEN CLEARWATER PROPER 1.D. REQUIRED 441-2748

MARCH 9, 1988 THE WEEKLY NEWS

SOUNDOFF

READER COMMENTARY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

to whom you are speaking and the name of the department in which they are working. I usually ask that first, because if they get nasty with you later on and hang up on you you will not know who to blame for his or her rudeness. It is always a good idea to follow up a phone call with a brief letter or card touching on the main points of the conversation. You may want to have a pad with you by the phone so that you can keep a personal record of what promises and suggestions were made. Don't worry about your ability to communicate over the phone. Just be honest about your feelings ... which is the most-important thing. If you do this a couple of times, you will automatically start to develop strategies about what works and does not work for you. That means not to berate yourself if you left some important point out or if you stuttered, etc. Instead, give yourself points for having really done something which will ultimately lead to better selfesteem for you and for our entire community. Make that phone call, send that card... Bravo! Although it is not a necessity, if you have nicer stationery, it is certainly advisable to use it. It may lend the impression that you have money and big companies and politicians will most assuredly be apt to listen to you if they think that that is the case. If you belong to some organization and you think that the organization will permit you to say that your communication is representative of the feelings of the group you may wish to seek permission to use the organization's name in your writings, as this will show that you have numbers on your side... thereby commanding greater attention from the offending company or governmental representative. Finally, be as specific as you can about any demands or requests which you make, and make sure that you note the specific times or dates on which promises have been made.

4) Make it fun: Although people's lives, mental and physical health, job security and financial well-being are at stake in many of the issues which we face as a community and even though you may feel quite passionately involved personally with the issue since you are probably being directly affected by it do not for a moment let the opportunity for positive social contact or levity pass you by even with the "enemy." To lose your sense of humor and enjoyment of life is to become brittle and make yourself a prime candidate for burnout.

...

Now, let us move from the general to the specific.

I called Battle Creek, Michigan, this morning and requested two different numbers at Kelloggs: Consumer Affairs, (616) 961-2277; and Public Relations, (616) 961-2824. I called the P.R. number, and they referred me to Consumer Affairs, where I spoke with a courteous woman named Helen. I explained to her that: "I am deeply offended by the commercial for Nut & Honey cereal and am of the opinion that it will promote violence against people who are perceived to be gay." She, of course, defended her company and said that the ad

EDITOR'S COMMENT

BY CLIFF O'NEILL

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

They could pass quickly and without question. If you do nothing.

No. Not much has changed. Not that much. Save for one thing. We are now a community. Despite our turf wars, our apathy, our prima donnas and our infighting we are a diverse and powerful community. When we are united in purpose. When they're out for us all. We've proven that. Over 650,000 of us marching down the street proved that and a flood of, phone calls, mailgrams and letters proved that.

We can't let up the fight. Not if we hope to win. We need you all.

Look on page five. There's one thing you can do. Look on page three, there's something else. Need more? Turn to any page. It's there. It's everywhere. Help us win.

We can win. And we must... fight long,

PAGE 27

was not intended to promote violence against anyone; that it was only a play on the words "nut 'n honey." She then asked me if I were calling as a representative of an organization -Ah-ha and I told her that, although I am a member of several human rights organizations, that particular call was of a personal nature. I did assure her, however, that the organizations would be contacted in the coming days. I requested that she find out the name of the ad firm responsible for the campaign. I informed her that I would post a letter to her the next. day reminding her of our conversation, making some specific recommendations of concern to the company and telling her what other action was being planned. I asked her what the proposed run of the commercial was she did not know and told her in no uncertain terms that it needed to be removed from the air immediately.

I then called the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (202) 332-6483 and talked to Tom DiMaria. He told me that they had already received several calls from around the country about the commercial, and that the NGLTF would be drafting a letter on Monday, March 7th, concerning the problem.

ing:

My letter to Kelloggs will state the follow-

1) I will remind Helen of the date and time of my phone call to her.

2) I will restate the deep offense which I have taken, demand that the commercial be removed from air play immediately and note that I will boycott all of Kelloggs' products until such time as I have been personally notified that such action has been taken. 3) I will notify her that the NGLTF has been contacted and that she will be hearing from them in the very near future. Should she wish to be in touch with them first, I will suggest that she call Kevin Berrill, NGLTF AntiViolence Project Director, at the NGLTF number which is listed above, or that she write to him at 1517 U Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009.

4) I will suggest that in order for the company to show that it, in fact, harbors no ill will towards gay people it make a public apology and a substantial financial contribution to an organization whose purpose it is to stop, violence against lesbians and gay men.

Now it is your turn. Get that postcard that I mentioned earlier and write to: The Kellogg Company, Consumer Affairs Department (Attention: Helen),

P.O. Box CAMB,

Battlecreek, Michigan 49016-1986.

Although James regrets having to give up his Rice Krispies... he is consoled by the fact that Grape Nuts will be much better for him.

Sound Off is a commentary TWN offers its readers every week. If you have a commentary about a subject that would be of interest to our statewide readership, please mail it to SoundOff, c/o The Weekly News, 901 NE 79 St., Miami, FL 33138. All copy must be under five pages, double spaced, type-written and should include the author's name, address and phone number for verification. We will also need a one sentence bio. Only one guest commentary will be printed each week and TWN reserves the right to exercise final editorial control on all submissions. Deadline for editorial copy is, as always, Thursday at 5 p.m.

fight hard, and most importantly... fight often.

And The Rest: Reports have reached TWN that an unnamed group had planned a "Violent AIDS Demonstration" which would have taken place in San Francisco February 19, at 9. p.m. Although several reported seeing flyers for the action around town, nobody seems to know who issued the call. Come the night of the protests, nothing happened. Leaders of the city's AIDS/ARC Vigil, who have been stressing non-violence all along, reportedly are not pleased. Reports abound that due to the controversy that has arisen among South Florida's many AIDS-service organizations over the upcoming March 13 American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR) multi-million dollar benefit, plans are now underway for portions of the monies raised at the events to be distributed to at least two of the local service agencies. Guess the Olympics can't be entirely politically incorrect, considering A) hordes of politically correct lesbians at The War Conference were swooning over Debi Thomas over a pizza, and B) chances are our two American gold medalists are a lesbian and a gay man. Interesting, no?