December, 1988

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Page 9

Dykes to Watch Out For

AT JEZANNA'S COMING OUT PARTY...

SO I'M WATCHING TV WITH MY FAMILY AND MY UNCLE SAYS THOSE GODDAMN QUEERS DESERVE TO GET AIDS." "INCLUDING ME, UNCLE CARL?!!" I YELL. YOU COULDA HEARD A POTATO CHIP DROP!

...WHEN I TOLD MY MOM I WAS

A DYKE, SHE ASKED IF I KNEW ANY NICE OLDER WOMEN I COULD FIX HER UP WITH...

SO MO!

HOW'D IT GO?

OH, WELL... JEEZ. NOTHING DRAMATIC, REALLY. I MEAN, THEY DIDN'T OFFER TO JOIN ME ON THE NEXT GAY PRIDE MARCH, BUT THEY DIDN'T SEND A DEPROGRAMMER AFTER ME EITHER.

I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN. SOME TIMES I WISH MY PARENTS WOULD GO AHEAD AND THREATEN ME WITH DAMNATION INSTEAD OF THE WAY THEY AVOID ANY DISCUSSION OF MY PERSONAL LIFE.

ISN'T THAT A DRAG? I'M OUT TO MY PARENTS, AND THEY HAVE NO INTEREST IN MY LIFE AT ALL. THEY WON'T EVEN ASK ME HOW I'M DOING... I GUESS THEY RE SCARED I'LL SAY "OH MOM, DAD! I'VE BEEN HAVING THE BEST CUNNILINGUS!"

TERMS

1988 BY ALISON BECHDEL

DUNNO, MO. I THINK ED & VIRGINIA WILL COME AROUND... REMEMBER, THEY WERE PROBABLY WA STATE OF SHOCK.

43

YEAH, SURE. EVENTUALLY THEY'LL TOLERATE ME... ACCEPT ME EVEN, BUT BIG DEAL, Y'KNOW?

YEAH. WHEN I CAME OUT TO MY PARENTS, THEY SAID" WE'LL ALWAYS ACCEPT YOU, HARRIET." AND I SAID DAMN RIGHT YOU WILL, BUT I WANT MORE THAN THAT!!"

HARRIET CALLS HER PARENTS BY THEIR FIRST NAMES THEY USED TO LIVE IN A COMMUNE.. VERY GROOVY.

"JERRY, SUZANNE," I SAID, "I EXPECT YOU TO SUPPORT AND UNDERSTAND MY LESBIANISM, NOT JUST ACCEPT' IT LIKE SOME CURSE YOU HAVE TO LIVE WITH." AND THEY DO! I BET THEY'VE DONE MORE FOR GAY RIGHTS THAN I HAVE.

AWRIGHT! I COULD USE SOME PARENTS LIKE THAT! THINK THEY'D ADOPT ME?

MAYBE. BUT THEN EVERY YEAR THEY'D CRASH YOUR BIRTHDAY PARTY, PASSING AROUND PICTURES OF WHAT A CUTE BABY DYKE YOU WERE, AND PLAYING "FILLING UP AND SPILUNG OVER" AGAIN AND AGAIN ON THE STEREO.

NO-O-O!

HOW EMBAR RASSING! I GUESS YOU CAN'T WIN, HUH?

هر

Studds returns

by Rex Wockner

America's only two openly gay Congressman were both easily reelected November 8th. Representatives Barney Frank and Gerry Studds, both from Massachusetts, took 70 and 65 percent of the vote respectively in their districts.

For Studds, it was his third reelection since being forced out of the closet in 1983 due to allegations that he had sexual relations with Congressional page years earlier.

a

But for Frank, it was a firstever test of voter response to a national politician voluntarily announcing that he is gay. Frank came out a year-and-ahalf ago in a newspaper interview, saying he was concerned about the media's increasing meddling in the private lives of politicians.

"If I'm not hiding anything, they can't uncover anything," Frank later explained. Since coming out, Frank has become highly visible in the national lesbian and gay rights movement.

In an interview the day after the election, Frank acknowledged that he "might have lost a couple of points from coming out but not more than that." He says his last comparable race was in 1984, when he captured 74 percent of the vote. The drop to 70 percent this time, he believes, was probably a combination of his coming out and of a better organized opposition in the person of Deborah Tucker.

Tucker, who Frank described as a "Robertson Republican", spoke frequently during the campaign about

"family values," and blasted Frank for his "liberal" votes on "dial-a-porn" and drugs. At one point, Tucker asked attendees at a George Bush rally if they would trust their children with Barney Frank for the weekend. Another time,she said she was disgusted that Frank had compared voting to a gay

sex act.

Frequently during the campaign, Frank encouraged lesbians and gays to look at a vote for candidate Michael Dukakis as a "one night stand, not a lifetime commitment," acknowledging that Dukakis was not an ideal candidate but was the best choice at "ten 'till two with the bar about to close."

National lesbian and gay leaders were elated at Frank's "landslide" victory and believe it proves that voters can see beyond sexual orientation.

"Barney is very respected by his constituents and being openly gay was obviously not a liability," said Urvashi Vaid of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force.

"This is tremendous, amazing, fantastic," exclaimed Robert Bray, communications director of the Human Rights Campaign Fund. "It sends a very powerful signal not only to other politicians who might be gay, but to constituents in general."

HRCF's political director, Eric Rosenthal agreed, adding that "safe incumbents don't often get 70 percent. This demonstrates," Rosenthal said, "that the American people are much more sophisticated and much less bigoted than politicians think they are."▼

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