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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

August, 1990

12 workers leave Fund for Human Dignity as troubles continue

by Deborah Schwartz

New York-In the third upheaval in six months, 12 of the 13 remaining employees at the Fund for Human Dignity-concluding they were engaged in "unethical and immoral fundraising". ceased work on June 11 and subsequently received notification from the Fund's executive director that they had been terminated.

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Less than three months after the controversial appointment of Robert Brading as executive director, the Fund has raised over $64,000, but its national Gay and Lesbian Crisisline remains unstaffed, its Positive Images educational campaign has stalled, and its resource center in the words of a staff memberis "virtually non-existent."

At a June 26 press conference, Fund employees voiced their disillusionment with an organization that engaged in fundraising for non-operative programs and turned down staff requests for representation on the board. Explained Telemarketing Director Dave Stickle, "We decided we couldn't do it... There is a limited amount of gay and lesbian dollars out there, and we no longer felt right about asking the community to fork over money to pay for programs that just weren't running."

A majority of the volunteers who answer calls at the Crisisline left in midMarch following the board of directors' decision to hire Brading, a heterosexual man who staff say has "no experience" in the lesbian and gay community. As of June 2, phones have remained completely unstaffed, and this fact has been a major point of friction between staff and Brading.

Staff members felt they were deceiving donors by promoting the Crisisline — a major service provided by the Fund for Human Dignity-which for months only offered a taped message saying the Fund's offices were being re-decorated, so no calls could be answered. A new message now informs callers "We're sorry we can't answer you call right now. We hope to be back on the line soon. Thank you."

AT&T estimates that only one out of 13 calls to the Crisisline succeeds in getting through. While in a single shift several hundred calls are answered, over 63,000 callers each month receive a busy signal.

Staff and volunteers stress the importance of the Crisisline as an information and counseling resource. Out of every ten callers who reach the National AIDS Hotline, eight are referred to the Fund's Crisisline for more information. According to Administrative Assistant Reggie Harris, “It's very depressing to know that this work is not being done and here [is] the fifth largest gay community help center... not doing the main function it was set up to do."

Brading has been seeking a Crisisline coordinator since March, when coordinator Mary Beth Caschetta resigned. Brading explained that a coordinator

must be hired before proper volunteer training can begin. Brading predicts that although the line will be back in service by the first week of August, it may take three to six months to get it back to “maximum operation."

Staff members disagree, stating that Brading is not pushing hard enough and that he overestimates the time it would take to recruit and train new volunteers. Kevin Turner, the Fund's accountant, estimated that staff and supporters willing to donate their time could be trained to answer the phone in two days. Turner expressed suspicion that the board of directors and Brading have decided to keep the Crisisline closed to save the cost of the phone bill, which runs between

written contracts. The letter states, "This action should not be construed as either a mass resignation or a 'strike."" Explained Asperger, “We didn't intend a resignation at all. It was the only way we could think of to get this resolved... We couldn't go in any more day after day... talking to the donors and explaining why they should overlook what had happened and continue to contribute to the Fund."

Two days later Brading had locksmiths change the locks on all of the Fund's doors. This was the fourth time in

a year that locks had been changed; the last two times occurred when the board terminated the two previous executive directors. In a letter dated June 15, Brading sent registered letters to the 12 staff members notifying them they had been terminated as of June 11. "The fact is they abandoned their jobs," Brading told the Gay Community News, "and it leaves me very little choice."

Reprinted with permission from Gay Community News, Boston.

Courts in Detroit, Michigan and

$2000 and $5000 each month. Brading Wisconsin strike

dismissed the charge as "absolutely ridiculous. The lines are open and they are costing us plenty, but that is the responsible thing to do. The intent is to rebuild the line."

Courts in Kentucky and Michigan have ruled, less than a month apart, that sodomy laws in those states violate the state constitutions.

In the Kentucky case, the ruling came on an appeal of the criminal prosecution of Jeffrey Wasson, who was arrested in 1986 for allegedly soliciting an undercover policeman. In 1986, the trial court dismissed the prosecution on the grounds that the sodomy law violated the

At their quarterly meeting on June 9, the board of directors announced that three volunteer representatives would take seats on the board, but that it was 'illegal' for staff to sit on a board of directors. Later, staff were informed that their sitting on the board was not illegal, only according to Brading—"inap-right propriate." The board did not approve a staff request that Julian Maurice, who resigned in January as Crisisline coordinator, be reinstated. Additionally, they rejected a call for a change in the bylaws that would grant volunteers the authority to appoint one of the board's two cochairs.

Fundraiser Joanna Asperger says the board's approval of volunteer representation was designed to lure volunteers back to working on the Crisisline as well as a way to sidestep the issue of staff representation. According to Asperger, the board "didn't want a system of checks and balances... They didn't want us to have any part in the setting of policy or to know how much people were paid. They didn't want us crashing their party."

The following Monday, 11 volunteers did not show up to answer the phones. and the entire staffwith the exception of Gregory Kilgallen, a secretary who supported the board's decision to hire Brading drafted a letter to Brading that outlined their reasons for leaving. "Continuing to raise funds for non-existent or non-functioning programs is not only unethical but fraudulent. The wishes and viewpoints of the staff continue to be ignored. Three former volunteers have been places on the board over our objections, while the issue of staff input and representation remains unresolved on the 'back burner.""

The letter also stipulated that they would not return until the Crisisline is fully staffed fine nights per week, the staff receives representation on the board, and all staff members are granted

to privacy guaranteed under the state constitution. The decision of the appellate judge found the sodomy law to be in violation of both the right to privacy and the state constitution's equal protection clause.

The state has not yet decided whether to appeal this decision.

A trial court in Wayne County (Detroit), Michigan on July 6 became the second court in a month to strike down a state sodomy statute. In reasoning similar to that used by the Kentucky court, the Michigan court recognized that the state sodomy law and related "gross indecency" laws violate every citizen's right to privacy under the state constitution.

Wayne County Circuit Judge John A. Murphy ruled that the sodomy and gross indecency laws violated the plaintiffs' state constitutional right to privacy, the fundamental right to be free of government intrusion in making important personal decisions. The lawsuit had also claimed that the laws-which define sodomy as "the abominable and detestable crime against nature" or "an act of gross indecency” — are unconstitutionally vague and provide unlimited discretion to prosecuting attorneys and arresting officers as to what conduct is criminal.

"This is an important victory for everyone concerned with privacy rights in this country. The Michigan ruling is a good example of the growing trend around the country to challenge and overturn these antiquated, oppressive laws," said David Piontkowsky, lead attorney for the Michigan Organization for Human Rights, one of the plaintiffs in the

sodomy laws

suit, along with eleven individuals. A broad range of plaintiffs from all over the state had challenged the Michigan law, including a 75-year old lesbian, a gay male couple, a lesbian mother, an unmarried non-gay man, a married heterosexual man, a bisexual man, and a heterosexual disabled woman.

In Michigan, a sodomy conviction is classified as a felony and can result in up to fifteen years in prison and a fine of $5,000. The Kentucky statute makes sodomy a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in a county jail and a fine of up to $500.

Speaking of the Kentucky case, ACLU Lesbian-Gay Rights Project attorney William Rubenstein said, "This case is significant because it demonstrates how enlightened judges can refuse to enforce sodomy laws despite the Hardwick decision." The 1986 Supreme Court case Hardwick v. Bowers held that the constitutional right to privacy did not prevent states from outlawing private, consensual, sexual acts. "The opinion of a criminal court judge in Kentucky that sodomy laws are constitutionally offensive will be useful in fighting sodomy prosecutions and lobbying for the repeal of sodomy laws around the country," he added.

"The right to privacy victories in Michigan and Kentucky within a month are extremely significant, because they show that state courts and state constitutions can do what the federal courts used to do: protect minorities and basic American freedoms against government intrusion," said Paula Ettelbrick, one of the attorneys on the Michigan case.

Kentucky and Michigan, along with 24 other states and the District of Columbia, still criminalize "sodomy" the term is generally accepted to mean both anal and oral sex-performed in private between consenting adults. (Ohio repealed its sodomy law in the 1970s.) Seven of those states, including Kentucky, single out lesbians and gay men as criminals for private sexual acts but do not prohibit the exact same conduct when engaged in by heterosexuals.▼

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