gay people's

OCTOBER 1988

CLEVER SOCIAL

CIMARY

ENCES DEPT. PERIODICAL

N I

CLEVELAND CUPHS LIBRARY

VOL.4-ISSUE 4

9988

for

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CLEVELAND, OHIO

A Chronicle of the Lesbian & Gay Community

The Chronicle endorses candidates

The Chronicle endorses Michaei Dukakis for president. We make this endorsement with mixed feelings about the Dukakis record on AIDS issues and lesbian and gay rights. Nonetheless, Dukakis' spotty record in Massachusetts is still preferable to the record and campaign promises of George Bush. The Chronicle does not endorse sitting out this election. Hasn't eight years of Reaganism been enough? George Bush means a continuation of Reagan's policies of homophobia, sexism and AIDS inaction. Dukakis promises some change in all of these areas. For us, the choice is clear.

Lesbian and Gay Rights: Dukakis supports lesbian and gay civil rights, laws that would make violence against lesbians and gay men a "hate crime," non-discrimination regarding security clearances for lesbian and gay federal employees, and reform of immigration laws that exclude lesbians and gay men. As governor of Massachusetts, he has supported the state civil rights bill-though not as strongly or actively as he could have--and a law that made assault due to sexual orientation a civil rights crime. Although Dukakis avoids the "G" and "L" words in his campaign, he has appointed Jean O'Leary of the

National Gay Rights Advocates to the Democratic National Committee. He also recently made Washington, D.C., activist Randy Miller a paid liason to the lesbian and gay community.

On the other hand, Dukakis introduced a policy which effectively banned lesbians and gay men from becoming

foster parents in Massachusetts. He has always claimed this policy simply gave preference to married, heterosexual families, but that is not the way his executive guideline has worked out in practice. In fact, conservative Massachusetts state legislators, worried Evelyn Murphy, Dukakis' successor if he won the election, would repeal the guideline, so they recently passed an appropriations amendment that made it a state law for the next year. Dukakis signed the bill.

If the Dukakis record is mixed, the Bush record on lesbian and gay rights is an insult. Bush opposes civil rights legislation as giving "special privileges" to one group. He has said nothing about violence against lesbians and gay men. The Reagan-Bush administration supports the Hardwick decision denying Constitutional protections to lesbians and gays. Bush has done nothing to distance himself from the homophobic policies of the last eight

NAMES triumphant

by Martha Pontori

Despite what could have been a major setback in displaying the quilt, The NAMES Project Display in Washington D.C. will be held October 8th and 9th.

The NAMESS Project Committee was notified September 8th that Ukrainian Anti-Soviet Rally would take place on the Ellipse in front of the White House replacing the Quilt display which was originally slatted for

that space.

According to sources working closely with the San Francisco committee, the NAMES Project received its first oral commitment in July of 1988 from the National Parks Service to display the Quilt on the Ellipse. The Mall, where the Quilt was displayed last year, was badly damaged by this year's drought and could not be used again. Since July, plans have been ongoing to have the Display on the Ellipse with full knowledge of the Parks Service even though no papers had been signed.

1988 the

On August 4, Ukrainians signed the necessary papers to meet on the Ellipse, even though they had originally asked for the Lincoln Memorial Site. The NAMES Project Committee was not notified of

the signing till September 8th, much to late to change of the many preparations for the display that had all ready taken place.

Dale local Melness, coordinator, felt the Park Service made the switch on purpose so the Quilt would not be able to be displayed in Washington so close to the election,. "(the Quilt), is an embarrassment to the Reagan administration".

Once information about the switch had become known hundreds of

years. The gusto with which Jesse Helms and other right-wing homophobes are pushing the Bush candidacy should provide some kind of warning to us about what could happen under a Bush administration.

Women's Issues: As governor of Massachusetts, Dukakis has consistently supported equal rights for women, abortion rights, other women's health issues, and protection against sexual assault. During the presidential campaign, he's taken a lot of flak, especially from anti-abortion activists, because of his position on these issues. Women play a visible and active role in his campaign.

Compare this to Reagan-Bush and the GOP record on these issues. With attacks on Roe vs. Wade, attempts to withdraw funds from clinics that simply offer counseling about abortion, and almost any other feminist concern, the record is of opposition inactivity. Whatever Bush may say on these issues is not supported by the record. There is no question about Dukakis' superiority when it comes to feminism.

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AIDS Issues: The Reagan years have been the years of AIDS, and Reagan's record on AIDS has been dismal. After years of being told he had to do

something about the epidemic, he finally appointed a commission; and when the commission came back with a specific list of things he needed to do, he sent the findings to the Attorney General "for further study." The man will do anything to avoid action. Conservatives delayed for years a very innocuous mailing about AIDS to all households. Meanwhile, Massachusetts was becoming a model in many AIDS-related areas.

Bush has tried to distance himself from Reagan by supporting federal discrimination legislation outlawing based on HIV infection status. But the Bush campaign allowed the Republican platform to reject that idea as well as every other recommendation of the Presidential HIV Commission.

Bush also supports mandatory HIV testing for the military and immigrants, and "routine testing" (that means he wants states mandate it) for marriage licenses, and people at STD clinics, drug treatment centers and prisons. He has not said whether insurance companies should be allowed to test applicants for HIV status or not. He supports education about AIDS as long as it stresses "traditional moral Continued on Page 2.

Center celebrates

The Cleveland Lesbian/Gay Community Service Center will celebrate the grand opening of its newly renovated offices with a ribbon cutting Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 11 a.m. The event will feature special guests, community leaders, center trustees and members. After the ribbon cutting, a press conference will be held to explain Center programs and discuss evening Open House events. A reception and tour will follow.

A community Open House begins at 6:30 p.m. Open House activities will include the Center's Board of Trustees Annual Meeting. Major meeting items are election of new Board members and the fall membership campaign kick-off.

The The

A special guest speaker is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. followed by refreshments, social hour, and Center tours. public is invited to all events. Center is located at 1418 W. 29th St. The (off Detroit). Center grand opening is being held in conjunction with National Coming Out Day (NCOD). Sponsored by National Gray Rights Advocates and The Experience Weekend, NCOD was developed to

increase the visibility and political clout of more then 20 million lesbians and gays in the United States. Special events and programs will be held across the country to celebrate the day.

Founded in 1974 as Gay Education and Awareness Research Foundation (GEAR), the Center has expanded its role to become a multi-service agency providing programs, meeting space, awareness, and advocacy for all Clevelanders. In addition to offering counseling and support services, the Center's Hotline provides information and referrals seven days a week. The Community Resource Center features dozens of self-help pamphlets and calendars of events as well as listings of housing and job opportunities.

The Center also sponsors rap groups, a speakers bureau, and a women's coffeehouse. Working with local colleges, internships are available. The Center serves than 200,000 lesbians and gays throughout greater Cleveland.

All Oct 11 events are free and open to the public. For more information,

contact the Center at their Hotline 781-. 6737, 7-10 p.m.

quilt supporters jammed the phone Anti-gay amendment dropped

lines of the Park Service demanding the Service honor its oral contract with the NAMES Project.

Because of the pressure from the quilt supporters plus help from legislative officials the Park Service has restored use of the Ellipse to the NAMES Project.

Many events have been planned to take place in Washington D.C. that weekend which are expected thousands of lesbians and gay men. Most of the events are focused around AIDS and its implications. "It is important that everyone continues to make plans to go to Washington." says Melness. Event planners are expecting the quilt display to be an historical

event.

A U.S. House-Senate conference has deleted an anti-gay amendment to the 1989 appropriation bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate earlier this summer. The amendment would have denied federal funds to any education, health, or research program that called homosexuality "normal," "natural," or "healthy." Such an amendment would have prevented programs from presenting information about homosexuality in. honest ways in federal AIDS prevention programs, health-care programs, youth services, and most federally funded behavioral

science research.

The conference voted to retain the amendment offered by Senators Alan Cranston and (D-Calif.) Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). It states that federal education programs relating to sexuality must not be "designed to promote or encourage, directly, sexual activity, homosexual or heterosexual," but that they should be "designed to promote or encourage, directly, sexual activity, homosexual or heterosexual," but that they should be "designed to reduce transmission of AIDS by providing accurate information."

Continued on Page 11.