gay people's
H RON
May, 1990
I
Volume 5 Issue 11
1990
Cleveland, Ohio
1990
An Independent Chronicle of the Lesbian & Gay Community
Primary election endorsements:
Vote out a homophobe; stand by our friends
by Martha Pontoni
Senate Dist. 23: Dale Miller
In the Ohio Senate race in District 23, the lesbian and gay voting population of greater Cleveland has a unique opportunity to show our strength and clout and begin a process which will help us win our civil rights from homophobes across
the state.
Senate District 23 includes Lakewood and the part of Cleveland which borders Lakewood. These, if you don't already know, are very lesbianand gay-populated areas. Even the gay version of Trivial Pursuit, on one of its cards, says that Lakewood has the highest percapita population of gay men outside San Francisco, and if that isn't clout, then what is?
The problem is that we haven't used that clout for anything-yet. Now we have our chance. Running for District 23's Senate seat are long-time incumbent Charles Butts and Dale Miller. Both are Democrats, and the winner will face Lakewood mayor Anthony Sinagra in the November election. Whoever wins the May 8 primary will most likely win in November and that is where we come
in
Charles Butts is most likely a nice guy, but he is a homophobe who thinks he got away with it. Many years ago he fired his aide Jeff Levi, because Butts was afraid that having the openly-gay Levi around would ruin his reputation.
Levi went off to Washington, D.C. to bigger and better things, such as heading
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, but has never forgotten. This writer met Levi last year about this time and the first thing he said was, "You're from Cleveland? Is Charlie Butts still around? He fired me, you know. How come he's still in office?"
That was a good question, but until this election the lesbian and gay population of Butts' district has never had the opportunity to tell Charlie how we felt about his homophobia. We do now. Butts' opponent Dale Miller is our best chance to show Charlie he can't push us around and yet remain in office.
Miller, a Cleveland city councilman, is not homophobic; in fact, when we approached him about his views on lesbian and gay civil rights, he replied: "I believe in civil rights for lesbians and gays and I will do what I can to help. I would be a friend of your community." Now, while
Miller hasn't had a chance to disprove
that statement, there is no reason not to believe him. He has always been con-
sidered a friend in the council
along with
Jay Westbrook and Ray Pianka. In any dealing the Chronicle or its staff has had with him there has never been any antigay feelings shown. Nor is there any evidence that he would be less than supportive if we asked him. Miller would be a good state senator for our community. He is also a viable candidate to beat Charlie Butts. If we as a community support Miller we could help him get elected.
This means several things: First, it would send a message to Charles Butts Continued on Page 2
Ohio Supreme Court rules that Balser can adopt Charlie B.
by Bob Boone
Six months after hearing arguments in the case, the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that a Columbus gay man can proceed with adopting an eight-year-old boy. The six to one decision overturned a 1988 Ohio Court of Appeals-Fifth District ruling which had proclaimed adoptions by gay people were not in the best interest of children.
Drawing national attention, the decision allows psychologist M. Lee Balser to continue his effort to adopt the boy identified only as Charlie B. Although Balser has been the only individual petitioning to adopt Charlie B. in the five years since his parents surrendered the boy to Licking County Children's Services, the Licking County Department of Human Services moved to block the adoption. Even now, Licking County Prosecutor Bob Becker, representing Human Services, has said he is not yet certain if there are grounds to appeal the Ohio Supreme Court decision.
The high court that ruled that state law allows single people, irregardless of sexual preference to adopt children. Stating that Balser has consistently proven to be the most caring influence on Charlie B., the court declared that the boy's adoption by Mr. Balser plainly adheres to the principal that the child's best interest be the deciding factor in adoption cases.
Attorney Robin Lyn Green represented Balser in his case and amicus briefs were filed on his behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Institute for Child Advocacy, and the Gay and Lesbian Parenting Group of Central Ohio. Ohio State University law professor Rhonda Rivera, who specializes in gay and lesbian law, hailed the decision as being based solely upon the law. "It treated homosexuality as an irrelevancy,” she said.
The Ohio Supreme Court also ruled that Licking County Probate Judge Robert J. Moore, who had approved the adoption in 1988, had acted in concurrence with Ohio state laws. The high
court decision was rendered in an unsigned opinion. The only dissenting voice on the court was that of Justice Alice Robie Resnick.
We're gonna be stars!
Photo by Brian DeWitt
Pianist Ed Bricker, and singers Bob Stosser and Fleet Easton (left to right) won third, first, and second prizes, respectively, at the North Coast Men's Chorus' second annual talent show, held at Keys on March 31.
Living Room head resigns; cites Center personnel policy, health
by Kevin Beaney
On April 2, Paul Whitehurst, program coordinator of the Living Room project of the Lesbian-Gay Community Service Center, resigned. His departure was the result of increased health concerns and a dispute with the Center over personnel policy issues. Currently, the position remains open as the Center's board of trustees reviews its options.
In an interview with the Chronicle, Whitehurst pointed out his frustration with the lack of consistent policies regarding personal time, approval of vacation requests, and the expectations of meeting work assignments. In addition, he felt that as a small organization with only four paid staff members, and one dealing with HIV health issues, the Center board of directors should have responded with more sensitivity than it did in addressing a grievance Whitehurst filed in February.
Center board president Robert Laycock advised the Chronicle that he
would not discuss the details of Whitehurst's resignation since they concerned "specific personnel issues as an employee of the Center, and I think it would be improper for me to comment on it." Laycock said that he agreed with Whitehurst about the need to improve the policies, a process the board has been working on for several months.
Whitehurst's increased stress with his
job over the past few months aggravated his HIV-related health problems. Seeing no attempt by the board to address, review or change Center policies, and finding himself excluded from Living Room planning sessions in March, he felt compelled to resign. He plans to return to Akron, where his family and doctor are located, within the next few months.
Policies and priorities. Laycock pointed out that personnel policies cur-
Resnick claimed that the fact that Charlie is in remission from leukemia should prohibit his adoption by Balser because she considers Balser's homosexuality to put Charlie at a higher risk of exposure to AIDS. Although Balser has tested HIV-negative, Resnick said that Balser still "falls within a high-rently exist for the Center's staff, alrisk population for AIDS. Why place a child whose immune system has already been altered in such an environment?" Resnick did say, however, that gay people are not legally barred by Ohio law from adopting children.▼
though “I have said this pretty much when I first came on as president, that I'm not satisfied with them. I don't think that they are adequate enough. Clearly there are problems; some of the employees don't like the policies and I
think that they could be improved vastly, not only to increase the efficiency of the organization, but I think, really to increase fairness for the employees."
Fairness was an issue with Whitehurst, being told one thing about personal time by one supervisor and then having that questioned by another. He also found that the board continued to put off discussions about personnel issues, even though Laycock promised to make it a priority in December.
According to Laycock, his first priority could not be policies. “The number one goal when I came in as president [in late October] was the fact that we did
not have an executive director. The director had been fired shortly before I came in as president. We really don't have the funding to hire an executive director, so the very first thing I set out to do was to prepare a grant for submission to the Cleveland Foundation and the George Gund Foundation, and several other smaller foundations, to provide funding for the Center to hire a full time executive director and to pay for search costs, as well as any other financial needs for the Center." The proposal was completed and submitted
before the March 30 deadline.
Whitehurst's assessment is that he doesn't "think that personnel policies should be any lower in their priorities than anything else, because you can get all the money you want, but if you have Continued on Page 4
Editorials Letters
CONTENTS
page 2 page 3 Gays in mainstream press page 5 Western Union dumped Womyn's Words
Bits & Pieces
.
page 5
page 6
page 7 Take Pride in Clevelanders page 8 Lesbian Lists
Pittsburgh gets rights
page 9 page 11
Lesbian and gay parents page 12 Just Jocks
Resource Directory
Charlie's Calender Personals
page 14
page 16
page 17
.page 21