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working in education, because so many people feel that the community is going to rise up and throw them out of their jobs one way or another, suddenly or otherwise. So, that's a very serious problem and as I say several teachers, and in fact school administrators, have come to me very directly to discuss this."
A Cleveland man and his lover related being harassed by neighbors:
"The way the houses are arranged, we had to walk very close to them when we walked out the front door. They of course continued with all the calling of names and so forth. We proceeded to walk over to our car to get in to get ready to go to the police station. They did not know where we were going, there's no way they could have. Two of the men, one was a guest and one was a neighbor, left the porch at that time and followed us to our car. The one man, the guest, walked around on my side of the car (I was in the driver's seat) and pulled a knife on me. He was saying something to me as he was waving the knife in my face and frankly I guess I was so stunned I don't remember what he was saying to me. But the other neighbor as we were attempting to pull away, was walking towards the car pointing his finger at us, 'I'll get you, I'll get you with your shoes on.' We proceeded to drive away and left them waving the knife at us."
In this case, because sexual orienta-
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and defame gays and lesbians, your station reinforces attitudes and actions (such as anti-gay, anti-lesbian violence) that demeans all Clevelanders.
Michaels' comment was by no means an isolated incident-the Celeste controversy prompted a number of derogatory mentions-so any actions you might take to make the station less reliant on hate-motivated humor and asides would benefit not only many or WPHR's listeners, but all Clevelanders.
Aubrey Wertheim, Dir. of Services Lesbian-Gay Community Service Center
It's not NAMBLA's fault
To the Editor:
Once again we have in the homosexual movement a self-righteous person who wants to force her opinion on the movement and has no doubts about her motivation.
I refer to the letter from Sharon Owens, in your August issue. It never ceases to amaze me that people can be so sure that they are all-knowing and right, especially religious fanatics.
Doesn't this person have any common sense? Can't she see that her attitude and certainty is just that of every Muslim fanatic, Jesse Helms, Jerry Falwell, the Mormons, and every Nazi who has ever lived? What on earth does her being molested have to do with NAMBLA? Is she attacking heterosexuals? No matter how much sympathy she may want or need, that does not give her reason to attack and censor an organization that has to my knowledge never been accused of child molestation.
It is no doubt a problem, for instance, for the gay parent groups that there is such an organization as NAMBLA. But just as we issued a press release attacking the closing of bathhouses, the argument is the same, you don't stop sex by closing bathhouses, and in fact you may be doing the worst possible thing-spreading the disease you seek to stop. And it is not NAMBLA that is out harming children. Men and women who cause harm to children don't support NAMBLA or anything.
The evidence is clear that you cannot enforce moral laws. And we already have laws-valid, enforceable lawsagainst assault on people, young, old, men, women, black, white. And as any black person in the south and elsewhere can tell you, laws are selectively enforced,
tion discrimination is not covered by many civil rights laws, little police protection could be offered unless actual violence was done to the victims of harassment, according to police statements made to these men at the time.
Other testimony included:
"My attempts to begin a lesbian support group with the [Women's Comprehensive Program at Cleveland State University] program's assistance were denied....I was actually an employee of the University at the time."
"We were looking for an apartment in Lakewood, Ohio. We approached the landlord of a multi-story, multi-apartment building and we were told that he was sorry but he did not rent to two single males."
"I worked for a medium-sized multinational company headquartered here in Cleveland. I had worked for the company for approximately four years and I was feeling very comfortable with my coworkers to the extent that I wanted to share with them some of the things that were happening in my private life, namely my sexual orientation. I began coming out on the job to a few different people, one of which was my boss. About a week after that I was called into his office and the company controller had come from downtown and the company controller laid down the rules to me on no uncertain terms. I would not mention another single word about my sexual orientation at work or I would be fired on the spot.”
and any intelligent homosexual knows
September, 1990
Based on testimony and other data collected from questionnaires, SACGLI developed eight recommendations delivered to Governor Celeste in July. They are focused on state employment most specifically, but at the same time address the need for comprehensive gay and lesbian rights protection:
1. Prohibit sexual orientation discrimination in all agencies and businesses doing contract work for the state.
2. Implement a new statewide educational program on sexual orientation discrimination in all state agencies and make it available to private business as well.
3. Train EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) and Human Resource managers in sexual orientation discrimination issues.
4. Extend state health and other employee benefits to "spouse equivalents" as they are now extended to employee spouses.
5. Periodically review and update the state AIDS policy to reflect current medical and legal practice and to disseminate the policy to all state employees.
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has a definite agenda for the 1990's and you and your children are a part of that." Local realtors and conservative residents circulated referendum petitions.
The Wooster Fair Housing Amendments have been suspended pending
that laws against bars, etc. are used Federal fair
against gay bars and not against non-gay bars, everyday, everywhere.
It is sad that the homosexual movement still spends more time fighting itself than our enemiesbut with friends like Owens, who needs enemies.
No responsible homosexual publication can support and promote churches and psychiatrists that exploit homosexuals and yet I don't ask you to refuse to print notices from churches, or stop ads from psychiatrists, even though I have in a sense been "raped" and "molested" by psychiatrists and preachers; I don't go nuts like Sharon Owens. But I have done the intelligent thing, I joined the movement and have worked every day to help change laws, to help educate and to see that young homosexuals don't have to face the lies and false charges of religious nuts and psychiatrist nuts.
If NAMBLA does actually harm some child someone in it, their words can't — then there are laws and ways to punish
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6. Instruct the Ohio Department of Administrative Services to work with the Ohio Department of Health, the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services, and the Industrial Commission-Bureau of Workers Compensation to develop and implement a statewide AIDS in the Workplace educational program.
7. Propose to the Ohio General Assembly an amendment to the state's civil rights laws which would include the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing, public accommodations (including health care facilities); and include sexual orientation in the state's ethnic intimidation criminal statutes.
8. Institutionalize the work of SACGLI with the assistance of a paid staff person in the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO).
Initial presentation of these recommendations to the governor's staff has reportedly been greeted positively, and plans are underway for a formal meeting and public response in the near future.▼
general voter approval on November 6, 1990. Your financial and political support is needed. For more information, please contact Committee For Fair Housing at 262-1927. ▼
Schneiderman is a resident of Wooster and a practicing attorney.
regulations specifically exclude people with AIDS or HIV as individuals with
housing amendprotected disabilities. ments
The Federal Fair Housing Law (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968) was expanded in 1988 to prohibit discriminatory practices based on handicap and familial status. Based upon the 1987 United States Supreme Court decision in Arline, gay and lesbian rights advocates believed that people with AIDS and HIV* infection would be protected as "handicapped persons."
Unfortunately, the 1988 federal fair housing amendments watered down protection, for a person with AIDS, HIV, or other contagious diseases is not protected "if his/her tenancy would constitute a direct threat to the health or safety of others." Also, the 1989 HUD
In order to close this gap in the federal laws, Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), and Representative Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) have sponsored the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA was recently signed into law and directly prohibits discriminatory practices against people in the HIV spectrum and will supersede the narrow protection provided in the 1988 federal fair housing amendments.
The State of Ohio has not enacted a comprehensive civil rights law for gays and lesbians. In 1989, State Representative Vernon Sykes (D-Akron) sponsored H.B. 592 which would expand the Ohio Fair Housing Law to prohibit discrimination on the basis of familial status and handicap.▼
them. But if you have educated children 53 Clevelanders attend Maine
to begin with, they are able to protect themselves. Every child should know where to turn if, as in too many cases, their own parents harm them.
What has Sharon Owens and her molested friends done to help prevent harm to children. I can tell you she should not speak for everyone. Some children do not feel harmed by a sex act. She has to define the act not as sexual but as physically harmful. Does she base her whole life on this act or series of acts? She can hardly blame NAMBLA for such an act. This is a family, the glorified family that Jesse helms and the nuts praise. How could this be? This is the excuse we get for not letting homosexuals adopt children or be foster parents. What she is saying is that NAMBLA is terrible because her heterosexual family harmed her. Great logic.
If we listened to Sharon Owens, we would never have had a movement, we would still be back in the Victorian days, and despite the problems we seem to have in the 80's and 90's with AIDS, drugs, we are 100 percent better off than we were in the 40's and 50's. Anyone who says they were the good old days was a special person, he certainly wasn't black or openly homosexual or a part of any minority. NAMBLA can't take credit for inventing incest.▾
William Edward Glover Homosexual Information Center 115 Monroe St. Bossier City, LA 71111
gay men's conference
If you noticed fewer gay men around Cleveland between July 28th and August 3rd, it may have been because they were in Saco, Maine, taking part in Gayla XII. This week-long event was held at Ferry Beach, a summer conference facility affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). The camp is located on Saco Bay, about 30 minutes north of Ogonquit.
[A conference for lesbians, called Sappho's Sisters, has also been held for the past few years at Ferry Beach. About 25 women were expected to share their experiences at the facility between August 4th and 10th.]
This twelfth annual gathering provided gay men with a safe space in which to open their hearts, to learn about different aspects of their lives and to feel a strong, affirming sense of community. Gayla XII nurtured a total of 155 men, ranging in age from mid-20's to early 80's, who took part in a wide assortment of intellectual, emotional and social
events.
Gayla participants conducted more than 20 workshops, ranging from serious discussions to arts and crafts. Some dealt with personal concerns such as HIV testing, self esteem, and coming-out issues. A few were meditative workshops, allowing participants to relax with sound, learn how to meditate, or discover their
chakra centers. "Drawing the Male Nude Form" and "Introduction to Watercolor" were two of the art classes. Sometimes the workshops provided information not readily available, such as discussions of famous gay men, gay traditions, and S & M hardware. A very popular makeup class was given for those who wanted to indulge their feminine sides during the various drag opportunities. Spiritual interests were also met with a discussion of Unitarian Universalism, and with a faerie circle in the Wiccan tradition.
The interesting thing about Gayla is not just the workshops, which account for less than 10 hours of the week, but the sense of community that is established through casual encounters in the family style dining room, the campground, the dormitories, and on the beach. A lot of time is provided for reflection and privacy.
Each morning after breakfast a short service was held in the outdoor chapel which was well attended. The minister for the week was Bob Wheatley, former director of the UUA's Office of Lesbian and Gay Concerns in Boston, and an early Gayla participant.
Since an assembly of more than 150 in close quarters can be overwhelming, the
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