gay people's
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Volume 5 Issue 8
February 1990
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Cleveland Public Library
Cleveland, Ohio
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An Independent Chronicle Of The Lesbian/Gay Community
'90 census to include lesbian and gay couples
But Census Bureau is doing nothing to let the community know about it
by Lisa M. Keen
The U.S. Census Bureau is going all out to make sure that the estimated four million homeless people in this country identify themselves through the 1990 census this spring. And though that census will, for the first time ever, include a question to document the number of people who are members of unmarried couple relationships, the bureau is doing nothing to ensure that those people gay or straight -identify themselves.
Last month, Minnesota State Sen. Allen Spear's office sent a letter to Cen-
sus Bureau Director Barbara Bryant, urging her to see that something is done to alert unmarried lesbian and gay couples about the importance of identifying their existence through the new category. Such an outreach is important, said Mark Wallem, Spear's legislative assistant, because many lesbians and gay men will be "wary" about identifying themselves as lesbian or gay on a government record and will probably not feel comfortable answering the question honestly.
The Census Bureau is obligated to commit resources to identifying the
Service awards
Aubrey Wertheim, of the Center, and Denise Jackson, representing the Women's Coffeehouse Collective, recieved the Chronicle's 1989 Community Service
Awards in a
ceremony January 13 at the Center. With them are
Chronicle publishers Bob Downing and Martha Pontoni.
gay cople's
Photo by Pat Young
'Christmas on Mars': Passion on a tight rein
by Daniel P.
"Passion on a tight rein" seems a good description of Harry Kondoleon's play, Christmas on Mars. It's the next play at the Cleveland Public Theater, and it promises to be another winner.
Christmas on Mars first played eight years ago and helped establish Kondoleon as a playwright of some note. Although he is no banner-waver for any particular group or cause, his work tends to deal honestly and specifically with aspects of life that include or involve gay people and issues.
Kondoleon seem somewhat ambivalent about wearing a crown that says, "Great Gay Playwright." On the one hand, there is validity in "Gay Theater," "Black Theater," "Women's Theater," and so on, as our commercial and financial values (not to mention our cultural ones) often seem to push aside good plays unless they are demonstrably appealing to the widest possible audiences. If we couldn't pinpoint some plays to specific groups of audiences, we might never have a chance to see some of the finest plays of our generation.
On the other hand, there is a demeaning innuendo to such pigeonholing. If the
play is not good enough to play for us all,
homeless and most racial minorities, said Maury Cagle, assistant public information officer, because the law mandates it. But sometimes, he said, the Census Bureau itself rewords a question or adds a category just to "put things into the terminology of people todayso it is as accessible as possible." That's how the "Unmarried Partner" designation came to be on the 1990 censusa "reflection," said Cagle, "of the way society is changing."
Thus, the 1990 census will ask each person what his or her relationship is to "Person 1" or the person who used to
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called "head of household." In the past, lesbian, gay and unmarried heterosexual couples had only one option appropriate for them: "Partner/roommate." This year, they can choose between two categories: "Housemate/roomate" or "Unmarried partner".
There will be no explanation in the census instruction booklet to define who should consider themselves "unmarried partners"; but people who call the Census Bureau's 800 number will be told that an "unmarried partner" is a person "who is not related" to anyone else in the household but who "shares living quarters and who has a close personal relationship with" Person 1.
A number of people working on lesbian and gay movement issues say that's not good enough.
"I was at a statewide census kickoff meeting about a month ago," related Wallem, "and I saw outreach being done to all different minorities expressions of concern that they not be undercounted, assurances of confidentiality. But there was absolutely not one thing mentioned about our community. There wasn't even a representative [of the lesbian-gay community] there. That disturbed me."
Has the Census Bureau done anything to make sure that lesbian and gay couples or unmarried heterosexual couples know about the new category that is intended to document their numbers?
"No, not that I know of," said Ray Bancroft of the bureau's special 1990 Promotion Office.
But, then nobody's asked that the lesbian-gay population be quantified in any way by the census. While federal health officials for several years have been relying on the 40-year old Kinsey studies to make predictions on how many gay men might be infected with HIV, no one, Continued on Page 4
why bother with it? If it is a "Gay 15th Variety Show at Civic
Theater" play, interesting only to "Gay Audiences," it must not be good enough to be interesting to anyone else. Kondoleon's ambivalence is understandable.
However, good plays are good plays. Christmas on Mars is a good play. It shows us a scathingly accurate image of how people actually behave in our real world. In our real world, there are gay people, gay issues. This play is no more "about" gay people than Hamlet is about Danes. This play is about people. And it is about what they do.
People are always asking playwrights what their plays are "about." Chekhov made his reply by telling one female admirer, "People are always asking me what my plays are about, as if I knew and could tell them." Wilder also said something like that and added the comment that he would send a Western Union telegram if he knew. Such a medium would be much more effective at relaying an idea or two than are plays.
Plays are "about" some specific acts of human behavior. We watch what the artists have done to organize that behavior in their own ways that make sense to them, and we have our own ideas about what that behavior is "about." If we want to. It is not obligatory, even though it does seem to be a natural thing for us to do. At any rate, Kondoleon has the same kind of playwright's vision. He admits to a widely diverse range of influences and
Continued on Page 4
by J.L.B.
Women, it's that time of the year once again!
The Women's Variety show will be held on at 8:00 p.m. February 10 in the Great Hall of the Civic, near the corner of Mayfield and Lee Rds. in Cleveland Hts. The show features 15 to 20 acts that run between thirty seconds and ten minutes; consisting of original comedy, drama, skits, and music.
Tickets to the women-only event are available at the door and are on a sliding scale of $10 to $15, depending on what you can afford. There will also be special 15th anniversary material, mugs, and Tshirts on sale. A display of posters and a photo album of the events that Oven has done over the years will also complement the show. The money raised at this event will be used to produce all of Oven's other shows during the year. These shows are a service for the community and help small struggling artists.
The Variety Show was started fifteen years ago by women who got together and decided to stage a variety show. The second year Oven Productions took the show over, and it's been theirs ever since. In order to get the show started each year Oven forms a committee early in December, puts their ideas together on acts, and finds women to do them. Anyone who wants to get involved can. No one is ex-
cluded, and there are no auditions. The only rule is that the same act cannot be done two years in a row with the same
women.
The Variety Show is Oven's only fundraiser for the year. Brynna Fish, an Oven member, commented about producing the show, "Everything is getting more and more expensive.” Oven hopes to see at least a thousand women show up, and expects to make about five or six thousand dollars this year. The Women's Variety show has traditionally been a meeting place for lesbians over the years and is the most attended event of the year.▼
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Editorials Letters Gayla Reunion Clevelander To Take Pride In. Obituaries Bits & Pieces Sweetheart Ads Classifieds Personals Charlie's Calender Resource Directory
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