し
gay people's
IR
Volume 5 Issue 7
O N I
January 1990
L E
Cleveland, Ohio
An Independent Chronicle Of The Lesbian/Gay Community
Wertheim, Women's Coffeehouse win awards
by Marne Harris
The Gay People's Chronicle has announced the recipients of its Second Annual Community Service Awards. The winners for 1989 are the Women's Coffeehouse Collective and Aubrey Wertheim, services director of the Lesbian-Gay Community Services Cen-
ter.
The Community Service Awards are given each year by the Chronicle to an individual and an organization which has contributed to the lesbian and gay community over the past year.
The Women's Coffeehouse Collective was selected by the editorial board of the
White official meets with lesbian gay community leaders
In a historic first, a representative of Mayor-Elect Mike White's transition team met with representatives of the Lesbian-Gay Community Services Center and the ACLU Gay-Lesbian Rights Project on December 14.
Following up on Mayor White's pledge of support the gay and lesbian community during his campaign, Ken Ilg discussed community concerns with Loretta Mikolaj of the ACLU; and Board Member Dolores Noll, Board President Robert Laycock, and Director of Services Aubrey Wertheim, of the Center. A list of recommendations were presented which covered basic civil rights concerns, health and HIV issues, anti-gay and lesbian violence and police concerns, and Lesbian-Gay Pride Week support.
"We are excited by this meeting and the opportunity to present our concerns to the new administration," said Laycock. "Mayor White's campaign on a platform to heal divisions among the people of Cleveland is impressively addressing the gay and straight communities."
Ken Ilg pledged he would personally present the recommendations to Mike White and, once new administration titles are in place, hoped the dialogue with City Hall would continue.
Chronicle for its work in bring quality entertainment and providing a chemicalfree space for women. The coffeehouse, which started in 1988, was an immediate success in the community and continues to grow and provide a much-needed service to the lesbian community of Cleveland.
Bob Downing, co-publisher of the Chronicle, said, "In our search we were looking for a woman or group that has made a difference in women's lives here in Cleveland. The Women's Coffeehouse Collective has made that difference in the way women socialize." (See related stories on page 6.)
Aubrey Wertheim was selected by the
board specifically for his work in creating and supporting the lesbian and gay youth group PRYSM (Presence and Respect for Youth in Sexual Minority).
Chronicle editor Martha Pontoni explains, "Aubrey has done so much for this community it was hard not to give him the award just for his presence here. But we specifically wanted to mention PRYSM because of the impact that group has had in Cleveland.
"I would also like to mention that members of PRYSM, particularly Bob Boone, also deserve recognition for all the work they have done with the group," Pontoni continues. "Aubrey was not chosen over them, but rather as a repre-
sentative of the perseverance and dedication it takes to work with gay and lesbian youth."
The Chronicle's editorial board is composed of the publishers, editor-inchief, and associate editors, and makes content and policy decisions.
The lesbian and gay community of Cleveland is invited to help celebrate the contributions these two award winners have made to the community. The awards will be presented on January 13 at 8:00 p.m. at the Center, located at 1418 West 29th at Detroit. A $5.00 donation to support the Chronicle is requested, but no one will be turned away. Refreshments will be served.▼
Phranc, a lesbian folksinger used no gimmicks to charm the sold out crowd at Peabody's Down Under in November. The lesbians and gay men who were fortunate enough to get in got a taste of some of the best new music around.
The following suggestions were made
to the new administration:
Establish a permanent lesbian-gay liaison in the mayor's office, with access to the mayor and his senior staff.
• Present to City Council an ordinance for passage protecting all perContinued on Page 4
NGRA head resigns amid controversy
by Lisa M. Keen
National Gay Rights Advocates Executive Director Jean O'Leary resigned in early December, saying that "differences of opinion and vision, exacerbated by internal strife" have made it "far too difficult" for her to be an effective leader for the organization. Without elaborating, she also said her difficulties were compounded by "clearly orchestrated attacks in the press."
"It comes as no surprise to me that these baseless attacks are made upon a woman in a powerful and wealthy national organization," said O'Leary, in her December 4 letter to NGRA board Chairman Richard White. O'Leary
added that she believes that attacks are aimed against her attempts "to broaden the impact and effectiveness of NGRA beyond an exclusive litigative approach."
O'Leary has been the focus of numerous press reports in gay and legal publications in San Francisco and elsewhere since September, when NGRA Legal Director Leonard Graff announced he was resigning for "personal" reasons. In reporting Graff's resignation and others that soon followed, the San Francisco Sentinel, a gay newspaper, reported that conflicts between O'Leary and other staff members were threatening the organization's stability.
Continued on Page 4
NAMES Quilt to return in February
The Cleveland Chapter of the NAMES Project is busy planning the return of the Quilt to the Northeast Ohio area for five weeks of displays. The primary Cleveland display will be at the Jewish Community Center, on Mayfield Road in Cleveland Heights, February 1012, 1990.
Display hours will be: Saturday, Feb. 10 Sunday, Feb. 11 Monday, Feb. 12
7
p.m.10 p.m. 9 a.m.8 p.m.
9 a.m.6 p.m.
Beginning Saturday, February 10 the traditional reading of the NAMES will begin and continue throughout the entire weekend, as all 11,000 names on the Quilt are read. Many volunteer readers will be needed.
Sunday, February 11, the Jewish Community Center, in cooperation with other area Jewish agencies, will be hosting a symposium, "AIDS: The Jewish Response." Keynote speakers will be Nancy Katz, Director of Education and Outreach for the NAMES Project Foundation, Dr.Jonathan Rosenthal of
Photo by Pat Young
University Hospitals, and Sherry Simon. of Family Health Associates.
Monday, February 12 will be a day of outreach to area public and private schools, with students viewing the Quilt and meeting with local AIDS educators for question and answer sessions.
New panels should be turned in to the local chapter now for inclusion in the Quilt for this series of displays. They will Continued on Page 4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Editorials
Letters Community Service
page 2
page 3
Award Winners
Gay Games
page 6
page 7
page 11
page 17
page 18
page 15 page 16
Bits & Pieces Personals
Sweetheart Ads Charlie's Calender
Resource Directory