Letters

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of the pending restrictive and crazy legislation. If, in effect, such a law is already enforced, one must wonder whether only the Bahamian nationals will be subject... I truly doubt this. Also people might want to vacation elsewhere in protest.

Karen Wills

Sex Laws Spark Row The Bahamas government is proposing controversial new sex laws

[The Bahamian government] has decided that is in the public interest for it to "define the limits of morality of sexual conduct" between consenting adults, Minister of National Security Paul Adderley said.

The Government proposes to make lesbianism an offence with a maximum jail term of 20 years, and reduce the prison term for buggery from life to 20 years.

It is also proposing to outlaw sexual harassment at the workplace, and incest. AIDS victims who know they have the disease could be detained for five years if they have sex with someone without disclosing the fact that they are infected.

The new laws would also forbid a person from having sex with his spouse without consent under some circumstances.

While some areas of the proposed laws are welcomed the sections on homosexuality and lesbianism have been strongly criticised.

"The Government obviously feels that it is very important to enter the bedrooms of the Bahamas," MP Hubert Ingraham said.

Wendy's and bigots

Following is a letter sent to Wendy's International, Inc. president James W. Near, after the hamburger chain sent a letter of apology to the Rev. Donald Wildmon's American Family Association. The association had started a letter-

writing campaign complaining to Wendy's about an episode of L.A. Law the chain sponsored that contained, in AFA's words, "two positive, 'normal,' homosexual characters."

Wendy's form-letter response stated that the "show was not consistent with the kind of programming we wish to be associated with," and that they try to sponsor programs with a wide family appeal. The chain's mailing address is P.O. Box 256, Dublin, OH 43017.

Dear Mr. Near:

Enclosed is a copy of an excerpt from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Bulletin, showing that Wendy's is willing to apologize to bigots for sponsoring a show in which lesbiangay people are depicted as normal.

Stonewall Union is the leading lesbian-gay civil rights organization in Central Ohio. Since Wendy's headquarters is within Central Ohio, Stonewall Union will be spearheading any national response. We, of course, believe that responsible people and responsible corporations recognize that lesbian-gay people are normal.

Stonewall Union represents the 100,000 lesbian-gay consumers in metropolitan Columbus-100,000 people who are normal and self-affirming, much like the characters in the L.A. Law episode. One hundred thousand people who make up families: families with spousal equivalents, families with children, and families with parents.

We are debating our options. Should we organize a national boycott of Wendy's? Picket corporate headquarters in Dublin? Set up a series of protests? Do we have to go this far, or can this matter be settled more simply?

We would prefer an apology in which Wendy's makes clear that it does not discriminate against its customers nor employees on the basis of sexual orientation, and that it values the patronage of the lesbian-gay community. The apology should also repudiate any prior statement your company may have made that suggests Wendy's supports bigotry against gay people.

Report says Hampton not biased

by Keith Clark

A special judicial investigator appointed by the Texas Supreme Court to review charges of anti-gay bias and discredit to the bench against state district Judge Jack Hampton for referring to two muder victims as "queers cruising the streets picking up teen-age boys," released a report October 31 absolving Hampton of the two charges. However, the fact-finding report did indicate that Hampton had violated a part of the Texas judicial code in commenting on a pending case.

The judicial report absolving Hampton of the complaints against him drew an immediate protest in Dallas from lesbian and gay activists as Hampton launched his re-election campaign.

Retired Judge Robert Murray was appointed by the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct to investigate comments made by Hampton to a reporter during an interview last December.

Murray found that the material quoted in the Dallas Times Herald interview was accurate but concluded that Hampton "would be impartial in any case that came before him, including those involving homosexuals."

In the interview, Hampton is quoted as saying, "These homosexuals, by running around on weekends picking up teen-age boys, they're asking for trouble. They really are. I don't much care for queers cruising the street picking up teen-age boys... I put prostitues and gays at about the same level. And I'd be hard put to give somebody life for killing a prostitute."

In the interview, Hampton was also quoted as saying that if the murder victims had "not been out there trying to spread AIDS around, they'd still be alive

today."

Hampton presided in the trial of Richard Lee Bednarski, then age 18, who was charged with shooting two gay men in Dallas' Reverchon Park.

In the interview, Hampton also said he weighed the sexual orientation of the two victims as a mitigating factor in the case. Hampton sentenced Bednarski to 30 years in prison even though he could have received a life sentence.

At the time of Hampton's published remarks, a motion for a new trial had already been filed, making the case still pending.

Gay rights activists and civil libertarians were outraged by Murray's report, which is not binding and makes

City Hall

Continued from Page 1 How to make a report

To make a report to the Community Relations Board it is encouraged that the person making a report go through Aubrey Wertheim and Howard Grandon at the Lesbian-Gay Community Service Center.

Wertheim explains that it is important to have support and counseling because you were harassed but also to help you make a report. By going through the Center a person will have that support.

"The intimidation factor is still there; making a report is hard. I was surprised how people felt [after being harassed], It was a real awakening for me," explained Grandon at a recent interview. Grandon and Wertheim want to serve as a counseling, advocacy and statistics gathering group for anyone who has experienced harassment because they are lesbian or

December, 1989

Unless this apology is made by December 1st, we will consider it settled that Wendy's is unconcerned about offending lesbian-gay people, their friends and families. We will then initiate a coordinated public response.

Michael McFadden Executive Director Stonewall Union Columbus

Minister of Homophobia

The following was sent to the editor of the Plain Dealer's Friday! magazine, concerning their "Minister of Culture" columnist.

Dear Friday Magazine:

I've recently reached my limit of toleration of Michael Heaton's homophopic remarks and projected-out inner-self fears. In past months I've managed to bypass his column and frequent ritual of referring to gay men in any number of derogatory descriptions.

But two weeks ago I was attracted to his San Francisco theme and took a chance of being offended once again. True to form, Mr. Heaton's homophobia in the form of "nancy boys" showed up rather early in the column.

I'm sure it blaringly obvious to most of Mr. Heaton's more intelligent readers that this guy has got a big problem. His fear that other people might think he's gay because he is (or was) from San Francisco is obviously his own uncertainty and confusion of his own sexuality and sexual identity, projected-out onto other people.

He's the one who is self conscious, not other people! I've previously followed Mr. Heaton's adolescent, insecure descriptions ranging from telling us he wouldn't be caught dead in one of those European policemen's "nancy boy" uniforms to questioning Rock Hudson's "real man" status.

Could it be that underneath his hip,

no recommendations for action, but will be reviewed by the Commission on Judicial Conduct.

Texas Human Rights Foundation Attorney David Bryan, who also investigated Hampton's comments, said he was disappointed in Murray's report.

"How can [Murray] find that Hampton made all of these comments," Bryan said, "and that Hampton would be impartial in all of these cases?"

William Waybourn of the Dallas Gay Alliance said, "This is like saying, 'Yes, he was a bigot but he won't be one in the future.' We never had any faith in the judicial review commission from the beginning."

The Dallas Gay Alliance has demanded Hampton's removal from office since the interview was published.

On November 2, the Alliance organized a protest at Hampton's re-elec-

gay.

Wertheim and Grandon also stress that all reports to the Center will be confidential but the person who experienced the harassment has to make the report.

"You can't count a rumor" emphasizes Grandon. It is important to have an accurate count of hate crimes in the City even if they aren't followed up on so the crimes can be used as evidence that harassment of our community is taking place. As things stand right now it is hard to convince the City that harassment of lesbian and gay men is a problem when there aren't any statistics to back up complaints.

Wertheim and Grandon will also help victims of hate crimes when they are making a police report and follow the person through the court process.

It can be frustrating for the police when someone experiences harassment or physical harm and doesn't come forward to report it. One example are the recent muggings at Clifton and 115th.

As reported in the Chronicle, police

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE Page 3

social critic exterior lies a scared, confused little boy, terrified of finding out that he's really a human being inside, possibly even ... a "nancy boy"?

But that's his problem, not mine or anyone else's. And Mr. Heaton's lack of personal insight is no reason to print this kind of adolescent nonsense that arises predominantly from insecure heterosexual males who aren't sure of themselves. My issue here is whether a daily newspaper with a circulation of a half million, and distributed statewide, has a responsibility to maintain the dignity of allit's readers by not printing remarks that disparage any minority group. Why is it still acceptable to denigrate gay people so blatantly, while every other minority group is off-limits? In this negative and repressed town we're either scapegoated or our needs and perspective as a community are, for most part, ignored.

Mr. Heaton speaks of the cultural diversity and sophistication of San Francisco. Well, as a former San Francisco resident I can assure him this kind of adolescent insecurity wouldn't be allowed in any of its two daily mainstream newspapers. The reason for this is not only because there is greater sophistication and awareness of, and sensitivity toward, the many different types of people who live there just to be themselves, but also because the gay and lesbian community is politically and economically large, powerful and assertive.

What exactly does it take to get treated with respect and dignity in this town and this paper? I think it begins with confronting adolescent pseudo-intellectuals like Heaton, in hopes that maybe one day he'll finally grow up.

David Johns

The Chronicle encourages everyone to write and express their opinion about the paper or life in general. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. We will print your name unless you specifically ask us

not to.

Address letters to the Chronicle, P.O. Box 5426, Cleveland, Ohio, 44101. ▼

tion campaign kick-off. Some 30 protesters brought two coffins representing the two murdered men outside the site of Hamptons's campaign-opening party, turning away a number of people headed for the event. The quickly-called protest was supported by groups ranging from Lesbian Visionaries to the Dallas Lesbian/Gay Political Caucus.

The Commission on Judicial Conduct was scheduled to meet Nov. 10 to begin reviewing Murray's report on Hampton and to make its recommendations. Depending on the outcome of that commission's decision, Waybourn said, the Dallas Gay Alliance may have to petition the Texas Supreme Court directly for Hampton's removal.

Reprinted by permission from the Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco.▼

have made arrests but need more victims to come forward and press charges. Repeatedly, gay victims of the juvenile bash-and-rob team are set to testify but don't show up. Grandon reports that the 1st District police have rescheduled times for the victim to identify the juveniles but have been disappointed when the victim hasn't shown up.

It has been doubly hard to get people to testify because the gay men involved were lured to the scene by juveniles, compounding the shame the victim feels for being assaulted and robbed. Having support makes it easier to follow through with the entire procedure to prosecute an abuser.

Grandon and Wertheim stress that all contact with them will be confidential but not necessary anonymous. All hate crimes and harassment are reportable, nothing is to small to be included. The Center will also keep the ACLU abreast of all proceedings in case the action taken by the City does not properly address the problem. ▼