April, 1990

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Page 3

Letters

The Minister responds

To the Chronicle and GLAAD:

I've been reluctant to respond to your charges because I find them essentially without merit and not unlike the question, "When did you stop beating your wife?"

First off, I have to wonder how many people who wrote letters after reading David Johns' letter in the Chronicle [December] or the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation notice actually have seen any of the columns in question or any of my columns at all. I think it's important that people understand the nature of the column itself before they condemn me for any reason.

The Minister of Culture column serves a variety of purposes, but more often than not it's a humor column. Anyone who writes humor for a daily newspaper has to live with two things. The first is that every joke offends someone. The second is that you can never be too literal for the general public, that is to say, no matter how broadly you write there will always be a number of people who don't or won't "get it."

David Johns, the gentleman who reported me to the Chronicle and antidefamation league, falls into both

categories. He joins a long list of people

from groups such as right-wing Republicans, the Communist Party, animal-rights activists, born-again Christians, heavy metal fans, Irish, British and Lithuanian anti-defamation groups, science fiction fans, Arsenio Hall fans, WMMS listeners, slasher-movie lovers, New Agers and Donald Trumpers, just to name a few.

All of these people took offense at some joke I made at their expense, or at the expense of something they hold dear. It is, as they say, "the nature of the beast" when writing humor. If I worried about

sacred cows when I sat down to write the column each week, it would be as dull as dirt (he said, offending dirt farmers everywhere). Over the last three years I have attempted to write a column which would entertain, provoke, and alarm readers while illuminating issues and viewpoints not normally seen in major American dailies. I also think I've honestly tried to do so in a lighthearted fashion.

But specifically in the case of Mr. Johns, I'd like to address his charges. To be quite blunt, the guy is someone so eager to find offense that he misses the forest for the trees. None of the examples he cited lampooned, mocked or made fun of being gay. In his single-minded pursuit of looking to be discriminated against he did not understand the point I was making.

The reference to people who think you're gay because you're male, single and live in San Francisco, was intended to make fun of the parochial, unsophisticated Midwestern mentality so pervasive in this country, and not a fear of my own. The "nancy-boy" reference was a description of the uniforms worn by the guard at Buckingham Palace, which I still insist is nothing short of high-drag from outer space and I mentioned Rock Hudson as a "real man" noting the irony and dishonesty of his being a model for the heterosexual male of the '50s while living life entirely behind the screen.

I stand behind all of these things I wrote, seeing them as neither offensive nor discriminatory. The problem is that a hysterical dullard like Mr. Johns picks

these three references out of context, a context he didn't "get" to begin with and mounts this campaign enlisting other people across the country who have never read the columns to join him in his moral outrage. I wrote Mr. Johns suggesting that he refrain from reading my column and urged him to add more fiber to his diet.

I think that any sensible person with even the slightest hint of a sense of humor who has read my columns knows that I

am not a bigot nor do I seek to harm or condemn anyone, with the possible exception of Dan Quayle. I am very opinionated, have a tendency toward bombastic writing and have no lack of mischief in my blood. But I think it's quite clear that the lower half of the inside cover of Friday! magazine has to be taken with at least a grain of salt, if not a pound.

I have no doubt that there are bigots, racists and sexists in the media today and as such I think your goal is an honorable and important one. But I have to question a group which takes the word of the cement-headed Mr. Johns, a man who clearly has too much time on his hands. There's a difference between being a media watchdog and the Humor Police. He is a prime example of mindless fanaticism and a little bit of intelligence being a dangerous thinga very little bit in his case. I hope I've cleared this up for

you.

Don't Follow Leaders and Watch Your Parking Meters,

Michael Heaton

Support the Band

To the Editor:

The purpose of this letter is to update the lesbian and gay community as to the status of the North Coast Freedom Band. As previously stated in this column [in February], the NCFB is no longer financially sheltered by the Lesbian-Gay Community Service Center. That means that donations to the band are not tax deductible at this time.

However, the band is currently forming as a non-profit corporation and as soon as this process is complete donations will again be tax deductible. The reason for this change was a misunderstanding as to the frequency of financial reports to the center. As has been the case from the band's inception, financial reports are available to any interested party.

The purpose of the band is twofold: to promote spirit and harmony within the lesbian-gay community, and to act as musical ambassadors to the masses. As a member of the Lesbian and Gay Bands of America, the band also represents Cleveland twice yearly on a national level. The band depends on the generosity of the community to financially support these functions.

Since the band's inception in November 1988, donated money has been used to purchase music, equipment, and musical instruments. The band has also paid membership dues to LGBA and helped send one delegate to a national LGBA conference. Since the band's operating budget was minimal in its first year, individual members have absorbed much of the cost of uniforms, music, instruments, repairs and travel.

The NCFB has ambitious plans for 1990, including traveling to Columbus for the second year to participate in the Stonewall March. As an organization dedicated to supporting the lesbian-gay community, we look forward to its continued reciprocal support. In addition, the band is always looking for new members at any level of musical ability, or with an interest in the twirling, flag, or pompon corps. Anyone with questions regarding any aspect of the band should write to: North Coast Freedom Band, P.O. Box 44376, Cleveland, 44144.

Lisa D'Amore President

North Coast Freedom Band

Youth suicide

To the Editor:

I was pleased to find the GLAAD bulletin in the February issue of the Chronicle. Reading it spurred me into a hyperactive phase of gay rights activism. One of the most significant acts resulting from that phase is below.

I minimized and modified my feelings in my letter to Dr. Sullivan so that my chances of persuading him might be better. As I read of the foolishness of his agreeing to excise portions of a government study which did not agree with homophobic mainstream America, I recalled my terror, isolation and selfdestructive feelings as a gay adolescent. Because I survived, I fell an overwhelming moral imperative to try to help save other gay young people. I hope many of your readers will reread the GLAAD Bulletin and write to Dr. Sullivan. In the meantime, how do we pray for the souls of the successful gay adolescent suicides when we'll never know their names? If your letters to Sullivan are tear-stained, he may not notice.

Dear Secretary Sullivan:

Your decision to excise those portions of your department's report on teenage suicide which deal with gay-lesbian youth shocks and saddens me. Unfortunately, it does not surprise me. It is the perfect example of the point of that portion of the report. As a nation we seem to have made ignorant, hysterical homophobia a sacred institution and a "family value" to which we are willing to sacrifice innocent young lives.

If you will accept a maxim, bigotry is bigotry. Simply to call deadly prejudice a "traditional family value” does not validate it. To reject empirically verifiable reason is to affirm ignorance as a "traditional value." David Knox, in his book, Choices in Relationships, states, "Homosexuality is not a mental disorder. Homophobia is."

In his State of the Union address, President Bush called for an end to bigotry and hate of any kind. Your decisions to delete the portions of the report dealing with gay-lesbian adolescents panders to bigotry and prejudice. To encourage homophobia as a national policy is a destructive humiliation to the finest true American values "Liberty and justice for all." -

Please meet with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and listen with an open mind. Please do not promulgate a policy which is a death sentence for many American youths.

Hal Dalrymple, Ph.D. The four-volume Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide was released in late February with the two articles on lesbian and gay youth included. Chalk one up for the good guys. A copy is in the Health Center Library at the CWRU

School of Medicine. Ed.

Tired of

reading the same oid classifieds??

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Suhadolnik

Continued from Page 1

out," he said. It would take about "300,000 valid signatures, 10 percent of the people who voted in the last gubernatorial election" to put the issue on the ballot.

Currently, Suhadolnik says he has no plans to pursue that course of action. He says that it would "need an organization, perhaps a conservative or religious group" to organize it.

When asked if there were any circumstance when he thought lesbians and gay men should be allowed to adopt, Suhadolnik said his answer is "a blanket no."

The senator cited three reasons for not allowing such adoptions. First, there is "no constitutional right to adopt."

Second, the adoption "goes against traditional adoption policy [of placing children in] an environment like their natural environment."

Third, "the few countries [Belgium and Denmark] where it is legal for homosexuals to marry do not allow adoption."

As far as a case pending in the Ohio Supreme Court, where two gay men are waiting to find if they can adopt a handicapped eight-year old boy, Suhadolnik said the decision would be precedent setting.

"I don't believe a homosexual environment is a proper environment for raising children. The physically disabled, people

with mental health issues or who drink too much are not allowed to adopt,” according to the senator.

"I really don't want society to accept " said Suhadolnik. "The homosexuality," pressure upon kids would be very difficult to blend into society," he continued, adding he is acting "solely on the behalf of children."

If the two men are allowed to adopt the handicapped eight-year old, Suhadolnik reasoned, "next homosexuals would want to adopt a healthy child. You can't say homosexuals can only adopt handicapped children."

He added that "most homosexual couples are not monogamous. The homosexual lifestyle is not natural. How can parents tell children about normal sexual roles?" Such an adoption would make "an already difficult life an awkward situation."

Suhadolnik was asked if he had talked "to any psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers or child care professionals before introducing the bill. He replied, "No, I did not, I never thought about it."

""

Finally, Suhadolnik said that “the debate should end one way or another and a quick resolution to the pending bill would benefit all parties. ▼

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. Include your ad= dress and phone number.

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