December, 1989

Men's liberation in Cleveland

by Jeffrey J. Gerhardstein and other members of the Cleveland Men's Group

"The first significant discovery we shall make as we rocket along our female road to freedom is that men are not free, and they will seek to make this an argument why nobody should be free."

-Germaine Greer

Rich Arans was a University of Syracuse medical student last fall when he first proposed organizing a men's support group that would be pro-feminist in both philosophy and practice. Rich Arans left Cleveland for the West Coast several weeks after the Cleveland Men's Group commenced, but the men's group may be considered part of his legacy to the area. Indeed, the Cleveland Men's

The American Civil Liberties Union

This space has been donated to the ACLU Gay Rights Project by the Chronicle, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Chronicle staff or management.

by Loretta Mikolaj

Happy holidays to all of you!

If you are searching for a last minute gift for those hard-to-buy-for, politically correct friends, please consider an ACLU of Ohio Foundation Civil Libertarian wall calendar. The calendars cover the period from November 1989 to December 1990. To place an order, call me at the office at 781-6276.

Gay rights pamphlet. We have a preliminary draft of the Legal Resources Committee gay rights pamphlet. The draft covers such topics as housing, employment, credit and military discrimination, as well as the status of gay people in family relationships and concerns of persons in the HIV spectrum. If you would like to assist in any way with this undertaking, call me.

Cops are at it again. Unfortunately, we once again have received reports of

Group remains a safe and reflective space for all men who desire personal and political growth.

The Cleveland Men's Group has become dear to men who regularly attend. The only agenda is men's liberation, i.e., human liberation. How do we "do" liberation? Using feminist writings has sometimes enabled us to articulate the blind spots of our own lives as men. We practice the democratic use of shared power in a group process of fostering insight. We learn to see men as fellow human beings and have tried ceasing to view other men solely as competitors, enemies, victims or abusers.

Early discussions centered on men's reactions to feminism and gay liberation. We then explored our own experiences of sexism and homophobia and other forms of male oppression. It has become more clear that this oppression harms

alleged harassment of gay persons by the Cleveland police. If any of you experience such a problem, please let me know! We are trying to collect complaints so that we can discuss them with members of the police Civilian Review Board.

In other not-so-good news, Ohio House Bill 317 passed with the changes that were made in the Senate. Thus, gay people were not reinstated in the bill as an "under-served" group that needs special substance abuse programs tailored to their special needs.

We need to speak out. In considering both of these rather discouraging items, I want to emphasize that such situations cannot be corrected until all of us come forward and express our dissatisfaction.

The Civilian Review Board and Community Relations Board will not even investigate the problems with the police until someone comes downtown and files a complaint. Our elected officials will not listen to us until we make ourselves heard. This involves contacting them when a pertinent piece of legislation arises, identifying ourselves as constituents, and then expressing our opinion on the issue at hand. Protective legislation in such areas as housing and employment discrimination will not be enacted until we can demonstrate that we do exist and that our numbers are great enough to warrant such action.

I realize that this may be a threatening suggestion. In many instances, it is easier to be invisible than to become known and to work actively to solve these problems.

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each of us as men.

As a group, members attended the annual conference of the National Organization for Changing Men, held this year in Pittsburgh. This gave us the opportunity to network with the larger "men's movement."

The primary objective of group members is the steady rediscovery of positive, loving attitudes toward other men, women and children and toward our planet. "Male privilege" is viewed as an oppressive set of beliefs and attitudes from which men must liberate themselves. Without both personal and social change, dogmas such as male privilege further incur male-perpetrated domestic and societal violence.

According to A Male Guide to Women's Liberation (1972): "To be a person is ultimately the goal of every woman in every branch of the women's However, until we do "come out," invisibility will continue to be forced upon us. In my opinion, coming forward and speaking out about the injustices we suffer is the only way to raise ourselves from the status of an oppressed minority to that of full-fledged members of society.

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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE Page 11

liberation movementa goal not only for herself but for each of her sisters. More than that: It is their goal for us as well, for unless we become persons, they cannot."

The Cleveland Men's Group meets every two weeks in the homes of its members. There is discussion of difficult issues; sometimes, shared emotions; sometimes, shared poetry or literature; sometimes, dessert! All men are welcome because these are issues all men share.

If you are male and are interested in the Cleveland Men's Group, please respond to this call for newcomers. You may telephone Jeffrey at 687-1350, Nick at 791-2167, or Tom at 521-4246 for more information regarding future meetings.▼

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