gay people's

H R

JUN 1-198-

JUNE 1988

VOL. 3-ISSUE 11

for

CLEVELAND, OHIO

Two Gay Bills Progress In D.C.

SENATE AIDS BILL A MAJOR ADVANCE FOR GAY COMMUNITY

The United States Senate passed bill S.1220, the Federal AIDS Research, Information and Care Act, on April 28th after a battle by Senate conservatives to effectively exclude lesbians and gays from benefiting from the bill. The bill, for the first time in the AIDS crisis, authorizes federal programs in medical research, patient care, and public education with respect to AIDS. It is widely viewed throughout the lesbian/gay and AIDS community as the most significant piece of AIDS legislation voted on to date.

Along with provisions to increase federal research staff, eliminate red tape which interferes with the pace of research, and instituting "fast track" mechanisms to speed requests for funding and approval, the bill authorizes more than $100 million to states to provide home

and community-based care for people with AIDS, and nearly $300 million for information and education programs at the federal and state level.

It was the education component of the bill that aroused the attention of Jesse Helms, who successfully passed a bill prohibiting the federal funding of AIDS education materials which "promote or encourage" gay sexual activity.

A second admendment was also passed, introduced by Senator Ted Kennedy, which prohibits the government form interfering with the dissemination of information necessary to assist people in protecting themselves form infection. This admendment effectively wipes out the Helms admendment.

Senators Metzambaum and Glenn voted for both the Helms admendment and the Kennedy admendment. ▼

ANTI-GAY VIOLENCE BILL PASSES

by Brian Dewitt

A bill requiring the Federal Government to monitor crimes of hatred against lesbians and gays has been passed by the House of Representatives.

The "Hate Crimes Statistics Act", passed May 18 by a vote of 383 to 29, requires the Justice Department to gather and publish statistics on crimes motivated by prejudice of race, religion, ethic background, or "homosexuality or heterosexuality". This includes property crimes such as vandalism, as well as crimes against persons, such as assault. The Justice Department has gone on record opposing the inclusion of lesbians and gays.

Sexual orientation language was included in the original bill, introduced by Rep. John Conyers (DMI), at the recommendation of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

and other lesbian and gay organizations. The bill passed the Judiciary Committee intact last fall after an unsuccessful attempt by conservatives to remove the words "sexual orientation" from the bill.

When the "Hate Crimes Statistics Act" reached the House floor, conservatives, led by Rep. George W. Gekas (R-PA), made another attempt to remove the sexual orientation provision from the bill. A compromise was reached by a passage of a of an amendment to the bill by Rep John Miller, (R-WA), which change the words "sexual orientation" to "homosexual and heterosexual". Miller's amendment also included this statement "Nothing in this Act creates the right for an individual to bring action complaining of discrimination based on homosexuality"

Gerry Studds (D-MA), an openly gay member of the House pointed out (Continued on Page Four)

March on the Midwest

By Ben Shively

On Sunday, Jun.26, 1988, March on the Midwest -Equality in 88 will take place in the streets of Columbus. For the seventh year in a row, we have the opportunity to show our strength in numbers as well as in community to our representatives and the people of Ohio. Ten thousand lesbians, gay men, friends and supporters are expected to attend this years March and Rally to demand our Civil Rights.

Anyone planning to attend the March should meet at Goodale Park, just outside downtown Columbus, at 11:00am. The march will leave Goodale Park a 1:00pm and proceed downtown to assemble for a rally at the Statehouse. Disability services will be available for those mobilely imparined and an interpreter will be present for all events. Anyone who may need transportation during the march is asked to pre-register with the Stonewall Union Office by Wednesday, Jun.22, 1988.

As in past years, the Eleanor Roosevelt Gay Political Club will sponsor a bus (or two, depending on response) to and from Columbus. The Freedom Express will leave from Legends, 11719 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood at 9:00am and arrive in Columbus at approximately 11:00am. It will leave Columbus at 7:00pm returning to Legends approximately 9:00pm. Cost for the Freedom Express will be same as last year, 18.00.

For more information about the march, contact Stonewall Union Office, PO Box 10814, Columbus, OH, 43201-7814. Their phone number is (614)299-7764. For more information on the Freedom Express, contact Tom Tamasi at (216)529-1773.▼

The Names Project Quilt, Washington, D.C. Oct 11, 1987. The Quilt to Cleveland June 3-5. For agenda see

hack page.

DeWitt honored by fund

The Fairness Fund, which now functions as a project of the Human Rights Campaign Fund, announced today the first of a series of "Make a Difference" awards to a "dynamite dozen" men and women for their "extraordinary contributions" to the Fund's grassroots constituent mobilization initiatives. Among the recipients was Cleveland's own Brian Dewitt, who at the All-Ohio Lesbian/Gay Conference signed up more than one hundred new participants. The award winners were

specifically honored for their help on the Fund's initiative on S.1220, the Kennedy-Hatch AIDS bill.

Steve Endean, Fairness Fund project director, said the efforts of this "dynamite dozen" and those countless others helped generate the more than 13,000 mailgrams, letters and calls from every state in the nation in support of S.1220 which calls for expanded AIDS research, education and patient care.

Gay voters counted

The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) has conducted the first large-scale survey of the Presidential preference of gay and lesbian voters. The NGLTF Membership survey on the presidential candidates and key issues evoked a response from over 24% of the NGLTF members surveyed. The NGLTF survey was mailed to 9700 members in early 1988. As of the March 31st cutoff date on the survey,

2,347 (or 24.1%) surveys had been received and counted.

NGLTF members supported Jesse Jackson for president by a substantial margin. Thirty-six percent said they would vote for Jackson. Michael Dukakis ran second with the support of 22% of respondents.

among

"Jackson's strong support our members reflects his

is coming

The flood of mail and calls is "four times more constituent mail than has ever been documented" as a result of a national gay or lesbian group's efforts, Endean added.

Each of the "dynamite dozen" individuals was responsible for 40 generating between and 200 mailgrams on S.1220. They inspired leadership, "go-getter" approach, and simple willingness to make difference.

outspoken and visible identification with the gay/lesbian community's agenda," observed NGLTF Executive Director Jeffrey Levi. "Dukakis's relatively strong showing probably results from a good AIDS policy and general support for anti-discrimination policies despite a controversial Massachusetts foster care policy which disfavors gay/lesbian parents and his refusal to issue an executive order (Continued on Page Four)