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gay peoples CHRONICLE

Gay Peoples Chronicle

Publisher

Cleveland Gay Peoples Press Associates

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

The Old Cleveland Gay Establishment speaks again in Barry Feldman's letter on page 5.

Mr. Feldman completely misinterprets Rob Daroff's cartoon. Its point was that if the Goodtime II had sunk, Capie O'Donnell would have blamed the Chronicle. Stemming from our experiences with Ms. O'Donnell, the cartoon was not a comment on any other individual, the cruise, either sponsoring organization, the fundraiser, its success, the Goodtime II, or its navigator.

Unless the lack of support Mr. Feldman notes is a charge directed at the community as a whole, we have to assume that he is saying the Chronicle did not support the cruise. This charge has no factual basis. Our July issue carried, at cost, an advertisement for the cruise. Our August issue included a story that announced the cruise, named its cosponsoring organizations, and described the purposes for which the proceeds would be used. For good measure we tried to stimulate the sale of tickets by noting that they were going fast. This was support. Further, this support was given under very difficult circumstances. The person our reporter called for more information explained, with alarm, that he had been specifically forbidden to talk to anyone connected with the Chronicle. Our paper is distributed more widely than any other gay Cleveland publication. Deliberately withholding information from it is poor judgement.

We publicized the cruise anyway, because it was an important community event and a

fundraiser for excellent causes.

We did

not publish anything about its results because this information was also withheld from us until now. If withholding information from a newspaper is poor judgement what do we call a subsequent complaint that we didn't print it?

And here Mr. Feldman epitomizes the attitudes of the Old Cleveland Gay Establishment. The Chronicle staff is committed to a strong lesbian/gay community here. The Chronicle is our contribution to this. It is a vehicle for providing information and presenting opinion. It is also a vehicle for the community's examining itself. As Mr. Feldman says, a successful fundraiser requires hard work and dedication. Is he or any other member of the Old Establishment willing to admit that these same qualities are needed for a volunteer staff to publish a monthly newspaper?

Gay people have to support each other. By and large the Old Cleveland Gay Establishment has consistently refused to support a community newspaper or to accept it as part of the community. At the same time it consistently claims that we do not support its projects, even when our support is clearly evident in print. While each of these attitudes is itself consistently pursued, they contradict each other. Or haven't they noticed?

You can't have it both ways, Barry. You have the right to withhold support from us, including information. But you have to understand that by doing so, you forfeit any right to charge that we don't support you.

THE ERGDC AMENDMENTS

this community's only political organization the Eleanor Roosevelt Gay Democratic Club is so important we think it necessary to express our disagreement with the recent changes in its constitution.

The Democratic National Committee's shameful treatment of its gay caucus makes a desire to sever relations with the party understandable. Yet gay people themselves bear some responsibility for our current political disarray. The Houston gay rights referendum did us great harm, not because we lost but because the light vote in the gay ghetto damaged the belief that gay voters are a significant political force. Yet if the Democratic party has treated us badly, the Republican party has been even less hospitable.

ERGDC president Jerry Bores cited two main reasons for making the Club bipartisan: that status will make it easier to deal with Mayor Voinevich about a city gay rights ordinance; and will increase the Club's credibility as the political arm of the community. We disagree with both arguments.

The key to getting an ordinance through City Council is Democrat George Forbes. We can see Mayor Voinevich accepting an ordinance passed by Council, but cannot see him initiating one.

ERGDC's credibility is not in jeopardy. It has no rival. Republican gays in this community have not organized; a few of them joined ERGDC. The most immediate community need a gay political group can fulfil is providing a voting guide by endorsing candidates who favor gay rights. ERGDC failed this responsibility only once, when it endorsed all Democratic candidates reregardless of their stance on gay rights. And that decision did not involve its present leadership.

We see the shift toward a bipartisan stance as unnecessary and doubt that it will significantly increase ERGDC's membership or treasury. More important, we fear it may foreclose opportunities for working within the Democratic party. In our opinion ERGDC has never taken full advantage of these. Last fall it did not capitalize on Mary Boyle's election to push for a county gay rights ordinance. The only real gay rights victory achieved in this area is the ordinance forbidding discrimination against gay people in city employment in Cleveland Heights, passed by the city council in 1976. Significantly it was pushed through by the local Democratic organization, indebted to a gay man who had been particularly active.

October 1985

Advisory Board Jerry Bores

Charles Callender Rob Daroff, Bob Downing, Karen Giffen, Mark Kroboth Joy Medley, Martha Pontoni Bob Reynolds

Advertising Manager Joy Medley

Business Manager Bob Reynolds

Circulation Manager Bob Downing

Editor-in-Chief

Charles Callender

Reporters

Charles Callender Catherine Clark, Rob Daroff Dora Forbes, Joanne Frustaci Mark Kroboth Casimir Kuczinski Sebastian Melmoth Martha Pontoni

Photographer and Cartoonist Rob Daroff

Columnists

Peter Beebe, L. Kolke Jym Roe, Julian Wilde

Production Staff

James Amerson, Rod Caldwell Charles Callender Rob Daroff, Joanne Frustaci Mark Kroboth

name,

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