December, 1989
Tugging at the strings REVIEW
of your heart
by Martha Pontoni
Heart Strings, the largest show ever to benefit people with AIDS, hit Cleveland with a bang, raising more money here than any place it had yet played.
The wonderful musical review, sponsored by DIFFA, Design Industries Foundation For AIDS, had toured ten cities before coming to Cleveland. Heart Strings raised over $200,000 here, eighty percent of which goes to the Western Reserve AIDS Foundation for distribution for direct services for persons with AIDS.
The show, narrated by Joel Grey and Julie Haggarty, tells the tale of a small town that is full of music and heterosexual families with children. One day a cloud appears and people start to get sick. The story then continues with how the town deals with the cloud's presence.
The story is played out through a series of musical numbers, all of which may be described as show stopping. The costumes, the music and the dancing are a gay man's dream come true. The excellent cast plus the superb local talent, which included the North Coast Men's Chorus, made the show a delight and a pleasure to experience.
At one point the story tells of a quilt that the town's people had sewn for their dead and the actors read off names of local men and women who had died from AIDS. There wasn't a dry eye in this the house, including this reviewer.
Hats off to Alfred Roach, Brynna Fish and other members of the community who worked so hard to bring this event to Cleveland. It is a disappointment that the event could not have been more outwardly gay and lesbian oriented.
Homophobic rumblings at the beginning of the project, when organizers asked lesbian and gay representatives to "be discreet," abd marred what could have been a project the whole community could have gotten involved with and taken pride in. Heart Strings was a financial success. But as a event mostly planned, performed and staged by the lesbian and gay community, it was a study in homophobia.
During the show, the word "gay" was only mentioned once and the family scenes included only heterosexual families of Mom, Dad and the kids. For a show produced, written and sponsored by scores of gay people, this representation was insulting.
AIDS is not a gay disease, but our community is dying of it in record numbers. Is the only way we can raise money for AIDS to downplay the "queers" and push the children? Why can't we say, "Hey, AIDS is killing scores of gay men, people we love and need in our community. We need your help to help them."
It is ironic that this mystical town that ventured out to educate the world about the terrible cloud is representative of the gay and lesbian community as a whole. The gay community is doing more than any other goup to educate the public about AIDS. They are helping to stop the spread to everyone—not just other gays and lesbians. The heterosexual community has all but abandoned their own people with AIDS, as evidenced by the lack of support groups and services that are not run by gay men or lesbians. A straight woman friend of mine whose boyfriend, a hemophiliac, has AIDS was dismayed by the lack of services that came from her own people. In fact, the only comfort and support she received was from the gay community.
AIDS strikes everyone, but we are doing the most to combat it and stop its spread. Why not be proud of this fact? Why is it not explained at these benefits that a large group of gay men and lesbians have given of their time and energy to raise hundreds or thousands of dollars for everyone with AIDS? Will the rich and powerful of this town not be willing to give, or is it our own homophobia that won't allow us to be out of the closet? Is $200,000 worth selling your pride and soul for?
When Heart Strings tours here next year, go see it. You will love it. It is uplifting, warm, sensitive and a whole lot of fun.
But next year when you go, wear your pink triangles.▼
Sex With God
by Thomas O'Neil Illustrations by Ty Wilson Indulgence Press 107 pp., $5.95
by Bob Boone
Sex With God is a purposely inflammatory title and rightfully so, for Thomas O'Neil's first book of poetry is successfully written to inflame the conscience. Addressing such issues as gay love, AIDS, and religion, the poet is powerful and straightforward without ever losing his sense of humor.
Beginning with the title poem, O'Neil quickly separates God and the organized church, specifically the Roman Catholic religion. To the poet, God is a casual friend with whom he can share his personal thoughts, while the church is a selfenveloped organization that proves all too easy to mock. In such poems as "Mass Confusion," O'Neil places the church directly at odds with God:
An article in the New York Post reports God was mugged last Saturday night --
by the Cardinal of the Archdiocese.
O'Neil goes on to describe the cardinal as "the man who wears the most expensive gowns in town" and lambasts him for turning the church into a moneymaking venture and ignoring the needs of gay men and lesbians. The recurring premise in O'Neil's poems dealing with religion is that, although the church as a man-made institution discriminates against gays, God revels in the love that gay men and women share for one
Since
1984
GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE Page 7
another. It is a refreshing delightful and playful God that O'Neil portrays.
Underscoring the warmth and beauty of gay love and the irrational stand of the church's condemnation of it, many of O'Neil's poems are dedicated to his lover, Brian. These poems stretch from the difficulties of keeping a relationship alive to the love and the joy the poet expresses on Brian's 29th birthday, after being together more than three years. In his simple descriptions of searching for a lost wallet together, or deciding who is going to water the peace lily, the poet all but laughs at the possibility that such a tender relationship could ever draw the wrath of God.
O'Neil's lightheartedness fades into dark sarcasm in "A Letter to the Boys in the 24th Century." A bitter attack on society, families and politicians, and their response to AIDS, this poem creates some of the most striking and vivid images in the book. O'Neil characterizes AIDS as some perverse celebrity that would "wave to the cameras" and that "made the steam of the bathhouses rise as sweet as Buchenwald's." It is a heart-wrenching poem that decries the bigotry against gays and PWAs while drawing a personal face on the issue.
Sex With God is a statement of pride. It is an affirmation of Thomas O'Neil's individuality, sexuality and spirituality. With humor, strength and directness, the author confesses his guilt to the crimes declared by the Catholic Church and then calls God as the lead witness for the defense. Enriched by the illustrations of Ty Wilson, Sex With God is a testimony against bigotry and a victory for gay men and lesbians.
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