Page 8 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE April, 1989

Group for gay ex-Witnesses

A national support network based in Pittsburgh has been established to help former Jehovah's Witnesses who are gay or lesbian.

Called "A Common Bond," the group seeks to unite gay ex-Jehovah's Witnesses suffering the stigma of being excommunicated because of their sexual preference.

Unlike some religions which condemn homosexuality but reluctantly welcome the homosexual, Jehovah's Witnesses tolerate neither. Their governing body, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York Inc., excommunicates or disfellowships thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses each year for offenses ranging from using tobacco to disagreeing with doctrines. About 70 percent are ousted for sexual immorality.

But, according to Dan Restid, a former third-generation Jehovah's Witness and founder of A Common Bond, it doesn't stop there.

"The Watchtower Society requires its members to shun disfellowshipped witnesses and treat them as dead," he said. "They are so adamant about this that Jehovah's Witnesses who communicate with former members do so at the risk of being ousted themselves."

Restid said many people who grew up as Jehovah's Witnesses find themselves with few friends when they leave the Watchtower Society.

"All our lives we were taught that only Jehovah's Witnesses will survive the

In Quotes...

"I'm so god damned sick and tired of all the bullshit I get from assholes like you."

Colorado governor Roy Romer to ACT UP protesters January 3, 1989

"Persons diagnosed with HIV infection shall not be subject to any form of harassment within the work place..."

-Governor Romer, Executive Order on HIV Seropositive Individuals January 17, 1989

If you come across a quote which would be appropriate, please send it to the Chronicle, PO Box 5426, Cleveland

coming end of the world and that if we socialized with people who weren't Jehovah's Witnesses we may be exterminated along with them."

"The network is not the first of this type," he said. "A similar group in the Pacific Northwest has experienced tremendous success. Together, we want to provide similar opportunities for gay ex-Witnesses everywhere to come together in spirit of love and support."

A Common Bond does not subscribe to a specific belief system. Some former Witnesses remain sympathetic to the Watchtower's teachings while others have joined different churches or remained neutral.

Restid was on the verge of suicide when he left the Jehovah's Witnesses voluntarily in the spring of 1985.

"Although it has meant alienation from family and many life-long friends, it has been worth it," he recalls. "I'm at peace with myself, I now have a sense of self-worth and treasury of friends. I've experienced a remarkable renewal."

He recently told his story in Revelations: A Collection of Gay Male Coming Out Stories, released last fall by Alyson Publications of Boston.

A Common Bond issues a free newsletter periodically with a contact list for those wishing to correspond. For more infomation, write A Common Bond, Box 405, Ellwood City, Pennsylvania 16117.▼

"... If I were asked to choose the one organization in America which I would most prefer to attack me, the Human Rights Campaign Fund would win in a walk."

-Senator Jesse Helms complaining of HRCF lobbying efforts

around federal AIDS policies.

"I don't believe there's such a thing as gay pride. There's gay shame, and then there's normalcy."

Harvey Fierstein

reprinted with permission from Quest, Denver, Colorado

44101. Include original material or explanation of where quote originated. Also include your phone number.

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by Michele Smeller

For 14 continuous years, the Women's Variety Show has been a showcase for reflecting the issues of our community. When I use the word "community," I don't mean it in the broadest sense of the word as we apply it to all homosexual/liberal/oppressed people. I mean it in the most narrow of definitions-the community of women (lesbians) specifically in the Cleveland metropolitan area. Though this definition may seem limiting, the Cleveland women's community is as culturally rich and diverse as any community in which I have been a part-possibly more so.

A collaboration of distinct personalities representing a broad range of talent has got to be a tremendous undertaking at any level. Yet the women of Oven Productions have been sponsoring and directing the Variety Show successfully for so long, it would appear they have gotten this down to a science.

The show was moved from its home in the Civic to a more accommodating location-the Agora. Even in a strange location and a bigger cast, the show was relatively free of technical difficulties. A major accomplishment given the range of acts.

The first half of the show began with a spoof of The Sound of Music. Full of sexual innuendo and sacrilege, the skit attempted to answer the question "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" A mixture of vocal stylists, dancers and skits followed.

Standout acts among the melange included Patty M. and Lisa Rainsong, with their two-song performance, and the dance troupe of Dirty Dancing Dykes. I was particularly amazed that the choreographer succeeded in getting 15 lesbian couples to do the same step at the same time. "Sappho's Safe Sex" made light of the AIDS issue and brought

A Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples, 5th ed.

by Hayden Curry and Denis Clifford Nolo Press, Berkeley, Calif. 1988. $17.95 paperback.

by Ed Santa Vicca

Judy Rainbrook conducts the men's Variety Show Kazoo Orchestra.

"Sappho's Safe Sex" 1989 Womety Show.

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In response to the pervasive anti-gay and lesbian bias in the entertainment industry, three national gay rights and feminist organizations have launched a long-term campaign to challenge bigotry within the industry.

The "Campaign For Fairness in Entertainment" was launched by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the New York Chapter of the National Organization for Women.

The Campaign has three goals:

⚫ to make it unacceptable economically and morally for the entertainment industry to subsidize and promote homophobia, sexism and racism;

⚫to support equal opportunity for openly gay and lesbian workers and entertainers;

⚫ to challenge the entertainment industry to take creative action to counter bigotry and intolerance by donating money to fund community-based programs that fight racism, sexism and homophobia.

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laughs when free oral dams were distributed, causing one of the emcees for the evening to quip, "Do they come ripped?"

The second half of the show continued in the same vein, some skits (Lesbian of the Year and Bowling for Doris), some singers (Candy Montgomery and Cari), and the reappearance of the Dirty Dancing Dykes.

I guess you could say I felt like a parent watching my first grader's class play: a mixture of pride, amusement, love and gentle understanding. I wasn't overwhelmed by the quality of art presented but neither was I disappointed.

I love this community, I love the women who comprise the circle I now call home, but I'm tired of poking fun at our idiosyncrasies. We all know everybody loves gym teachers; we all know lesbians stereotypically excel in sports; we all know the community is a tangled network of ex-lovers.

Anyone can make fun of one's own "ethnic" group, but only a few can take those traits that distinguish one's group from the rest and capitalize on them to empower others. The dancers in Warrior Women succeeded in this task. As the finale for the show their presentation of African dance revealed the power of women, taking patriarchal war games and turning them into women-oriented, friendly competition. The moments these women were on stage were by far the most overpowering, moving of the show.

Warrior Women stirred the audience so completely that many women stayed long after the curtain was drawn, basking in the spirit and emotions that are drawn out of the closet only once or twice a year. They danced in the aisles. They got carried away by the women-created energy.

I'm not sure what Gloria Estefan had in mind, but the rhythm sure got me too.▼

or documents-the same ones you would use if you had to fill such a form out.

The authors seem to have been involved in lesbian and gay social activism for some time, so their perspectives are those of advocacy and sincerity. If you can't afford to buy this book, check with your local library to see if they own it. If they don't, ask them to buy it. It's well worth the investment. ▼

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tion to this record again, because Kinison will soon be appearing in communities around the country on a concert tour. The Warner label continues to promote this hate

mongerer shamelessly," said Davidson. "No apology by Kinison was ever issued, and he continues in his routines. and public interviews to insult and defame gay men, people with AIDS and women."

The Campaign For Fairness in Entertainment calls upon concerned people to register their dismay over the Kinison record and the extensive promotional support it has received from Warner Brothers by boycotting Warner Brothers Records, writing to Warner Brothers Records, explaining that you are boycotting its records until the company demonstrates its opposition to prejudice against gay men and lesbians, and protesting Kinison's concerts when he arrives in your hometown.

Letters about Kinison's record may be sent to Mo Ostin, chairman, Warner Brothers Records, 3300 Warner Blvd., Burbank, Calif. 91510. Or call 818-8469090.

Copies of correspondence should be sent to GLAAD, 99 Hudson St., New York, NY 10013. ▼

April, 1989 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE Page 9

Levi resigns NGLTF

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Jeffrey Levi will leave the organization August 1 after six years of service with the gay and lesbian civil rights organization.

Levi plans to remain active in the gay and lesbian rights movement and said his departure reflects a strong desire to work full time on the development and formulation of national AIDS policy.

Levi's announcement came less than one month after Human Rights Campaign Fund executive director Vic Basile announced his resignation. HRCF, a lesbian-gay rights lobbying group and political action committee, and NGLTF are the nation's two largest lesbian-gay political organizations. Both are based in Washington, D.C.

"My tenure at NGLTF has been the most exciting and stimulating work experience of my life," said Levy. "I am very proud of the organization, its staff, its board and its large and loyal membership.

"But I want very much to devote all my time to policy issues, particularly the complex and long-term policy issues raised by the AIDS health crisis. This decision reflects a personal career choice to fully devote my energies to programatic concerns rather than responsibilities of an executive director."

Levi joined NGLTF in 1983 as director of the Washington, D.C., office. When NGLTF consolidated its offices in

Washington in 1986, he was named executive director. He managed the growth of NGLTF from a staff of five and a membership of 5,000 to its current staff of 10 and national membership of more than 15,000. Levi helped erase a longterm NGLTF debt of $90,000, and leaves the organization in the strongest financial condition of its 15-year history.

Levi's reasoned and articulate voice firmly established him as the leading media spokesman on the full range of political issues facing the gay and lesbian civil rights movement. His groundbreaking appearances on network news and shows like Good Morning America, Nightline, and This Week With David Brinkley brought persuasive arguments for gay and lesbian civil rights home to millions.

NGLTF Board Co-Chairs Jim Holm and Geni Cowan lauded Levi's contributions to NGLTF and announced the formation of an executive director search committee. The timetable and process for the search was to be formalized at a March NGLTF board meeting.

Holm and Cowan said NGLTF is committed to conducting an extensive national search.

People interested in applying for the position of NGLTF executive director may write to the Executive Director Search Committee, NGLTF, 1517 U St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20009. ▼

Arson burns Dallas gay center

by Ray O'Loughlin

The Gay Community Center and AIDS Resource Center of Dallas was burned to the ground early in the morning of February 23. Police believe the six-alarm blaze was the work of arsonists who had robbed the community center of computer equipment, including disks, and money before setting the fire. Also destroyed in the blaze were two adjacent buildings.

"We lost everything we had," said William Waybourn, president of the Dallas Gay Alliance which administered the center. Only the Food Pantry for people with AIDS escaped the flames. A firewall separated it from the main building.

Fire inspectors estimated the total damage at $750,000.

"We feel from the evidence we've found so far that a burglary occurred here and somebody probably started the fire to cover his tracks," Capt. Randy

Sanders of the Dallas Fire Department told the Dallas Voice, a local gay newspaper.

Sanders said that investigators had no leads but hoped to find some when they sifted through the wreckage.

Wayborn said that the center had received several threats a few weeks earlier when Dallas gay activists had loudly protested the remarks of local Judge Jack Hampton. Hampton had said he sentenced two killers lightly because their victims were gay.

Wayborn doubted there was a connection between the threatening phone calls and the arson. He said police had arrested one man for making the calls.

But he added that he wasn't sure whether the fire was set to cover the apparent burglary or the theft was done to cover the real reason for the arson.▼

Reprinted with permission from the Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco.

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