Page 4 GAY PEOPLES CHRONICLE February, 1989

HUGS

Continued from Page 1

izations had opposed the drop-in center, but support from the Lake County AIDS Task Force, the health department and several other organizations in the state and the surrounding area has countered this for now.

Like HUGS East, the drop-in center will be funded mainly by contributions from members. Two theatrical fundraisers, a play at Lake Erie College in Painesville and one at the Willoughby Fine Arts Association, enjoyed great success, and more fundraisers are planned for the future.

In addition, a membership drive will begin soon to generate more funds to ensure the continuance of both HUGS East and the drop-in center. Support from all of the surrounding gay and lesbian communities is requested and will be greatly appreciated.

The demand for the center is based on more than simply a suspected large gay-lesbian community in Lake County; it is based on the tremendous response received to an ad HUGS placed in the personals column of the News-Herald in Willoughby. "It was a large response," one of the HUGS founders said. "We received many letters from all ages and a lot of couples who said they wished to attend more activities and functions, but that

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the drive to Cleveland was a bit much all of the time."

Eventually, the drop-in center would like to open its doors to the inquiring straight community as a source of information and education. However, for now, the center has promised all members and interested parties that it will be a "safe place" where all contact will be kept in the strictest confidence and few to no members of the straight community will be invited for at least a year.

The center will fill a vital need for Lake County's closeted and open (of which there are few) men and women. Homophobia in Lake County is a major problem for gay men and lesbians who have, until now, had to travel 20 miles or more for social support and other types of activities which keep us unified as a viable sector of society.

The center's one-year "safe place" policy is certainly an attraction for many members of the gay and lesbian community, especially young gay or lesbian people who may not be aware of existing support groups or realize how to enjoy their lifestyle in a rewarding manner. The center is a welcome and needed addition in the gay and lesbian community.

East

(Hope,

HUGS Understanding, Giving, and Support) can be reached by calling 257-3627 or by writing P.O. Box 15, Painesville, Ohio 44077.▼

Ratner

Continued from Page 1 program," she explained.

"I look forward to devoting my time and energy to the growth of Samaritan College," said Ratner. "Samaritan has filled a major void in the lives of so many gays and lesbians. It has a great future ahead of it, and it's extremely fulfilling to me to know that I will be a part of Samaritan's future."

The UFMCC, founded by the Reverend Troy Perry in 1968, is an international network of congregations that provides lesbians and gays with the opportunity for religious worship. It has over 250 congregations throughout the United States and worldwide.▼

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Gay rights

Continued from Page 1. dent groups with equality.

In striking down the Armstrong amendment, Lamberth---who many gay activists considered more of a conservative demagogue than Sen. Armstrong himself---held that the First Amendment protects the right of elected council members to exercise their own judgement in voting for or against legislation.

The judge asserted the United States had no interest in forcing council members to vote for anti-gay discrimination.

In vividly worded language, Lamberth rejected Congress' contention that the elected officials of D.C. simply "hold their noses and adopt the law."

"First Amendment protection," said the judge, "encompasses both the right to speak and the right not to speak, and even the olfactory burden to which the United States refers is constitutionally suspect."

Activists heralded the ruling on the case, formally named Clarke v. United States after D.C. Council Chairman David Clarke, joked that the gay community "won the case by a nose."

"This confirms what we've believed all along: that the homophobic legislation passed by Armstrong and the U.S. Congress stinks," said Robert Bray, HRCF communications director. "Members of Congress should be the ones holding their noses for passing such a foul law. It would have seriously undermined the power of our Human Rights Act."

The ruling marks a major milestone in a long, frustrating ordeal for Washington's gays and lesbians.

The ordeal began in 1980 when D.C.'s Georgetown University was charged with discriminating against its gay and lesbian student groups. The university agreed to grant the groups

Amato

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ter. When that program moved to Columbus, he was hired (through support from the Western Reserve AIDS Foundation) to pull together the Living Room, a facility at the Center to provide a home-away-from-home for people with HIV infections along with education about alternative healing

During the nine months Jim worked on the Living Room, volunteers were mobilized, floor plans finalized, a nationwide network of similar services and leaders was established, and thousands of people heard Jim personalize the concerns, dreams and realities of a Clevelander with AIDS. In audiences as diverse as insurance executives and Notre Dame students, he raised awareness about why it was crucial people with AIDS make informed decisions about their care, examine scrupulously all medical procedures and prescriptions, and never assume quality of life is based on the quantity of life allotted.

Two months before Jim died, he was in New Orleans at an AIDS skillsbuilding conference yearning to learn more. Two weeks before he died, he was listening to the words of Louise Hay and visualizing her healing images. It was a source of great frustration to Jim that the Living Room fund-

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equal treatment following a separate court ruling earlier this year.

Although both the university and gay groups accepted the ruling, Sen. Armstrong still pushed his amendment through in the closing days of the 100th Congress.

In this decision, announced in mid-December, the Court did not rule on the constitutionality of religious exemption for anti-gay discrimination, but left that issue to be decided if and when Congress should act directly to amend D.C.'s Human Rights Act.

"The judge told Congress if they wanted such laws passed, they would have to pass them," said Steve Smith, HRCF legislative counsel. "Congress can't force its will on the District."

"In any case, we will work with our friends in Congress and elsewhere to win this vote the next time it occurs," said Smith.

The U.S. Department of Justice, which represents the federal government in the case, did not immediately announce whether it would appeal the decision.

Local gay and lesbian and AIDS organizations mounted a massive public campaign to prevent final passage of the D.C. laws, including visits and telephone drives to every Council office, a full-page advertisement in the Washington Blade, and a public rally in sub-freezing weather on December 11.

About a hundred community members packed the Council chambers and filled the outside hallway the evening the anti-gay laws were passed. The meeting was disrupted several times by gay and lesbian activities. Some activists chained themselves to chamber furniture, hurled pink triangles at Council members, and chanted slogans, including, "We'll remember in November," referring to reelections of the Council members.

Five protesters were arrested at the meeting and eventually released after being charged with disturbing the peace.

raising took as long as it did: a delay of four months to raise the $15,000 needed to renovate. He was always inquiring in my last visits with him, has construction started yet? "What's the problem now?"

The money, lease, demolition and contractors finally did fall all into place and construction began Friday morning, January sixth. Jimmy died late that night.

There will be no great memorial plaque for Jim on the wall in the Living Room. He will have a square in a permanently-displayed mini-quilt like anyone else who's fallen in the fight against HIV in Cleveland. It was always felt the walls should be predominated by images of healing and life. But he'll still be very much in evidence. His voice will be heard in his successor's commitment to living---not merely holding on---with AIDS. His vision will be seen in every sero-positive person who comes to the Living Room and discovers a much more pro-active and combative perspective. And his heart--. Well, we'll be hard-pressed to find a heart with the excitement and wonder and joy of Jimmy's. But surely his warmth will radiate through the Living Room for the life of the project.

Good work if you can do it. Good job, Jimmy. --Aubrey Wertheim ▼

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