Page 4 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE November, 1990

Tales author Maupin discusses work in theater

by Bob Downing

Final revisions on the new musical Hearts Desire were in progress during the week of October 2 to 7 at the Cleveland Play House. While busy with last minute adjustments, Armistead Maupin, author of the third section, took time out for an interview with the Chronicle.

Drury Theater. We started by joking about the significance of his first play opening in Cleveland, since the character Mary Ann Singleton in his Tales of the City series is

from Cleveland.

I was interested in how Maupin had made the transition from author of a very We met Maupin and his lover Terry popular series of novels to theater. He said

Anderson in the lobby and went to an oakpaneled conference room in the top of the

basically it had not been his idea.

"I was asked. Glen Roven called me and

asked me to write a story segment for a musical he was putting together," Maupin said. "I couldn't write music, but Glen said 'You just write the storyline and I will find the places for the music.' Writing the story was easy for me; it was just like writing a chapter for Tales of the City."

Maupin is pleased the way the four songs in his segment fit easily into the storyline. "Welcome to the Men in My Life" establishes the setting for the story of the section titled "Finally Home." The song "Old Fashioned Days, Old Fashioned Ways" is certain to become an extremely popular song in the gay community. It is a nostalgic recounting of how we miss the promiscuity of the seventies, sung with delightful lyrics. The third song dwells on the "everyone needs someone" sentiment with which gay and straight alike can readily identify. The fourth song, "Finally Home," is about San Francisco itself and the accepting attitude and "at home" feeling the city gives to all.

Maupin expressed his pleasure with the sophistication of the Cleveland Play House and Cleveland audiences. The comments at previews are both constructive and knowledgeable.

There are problems in presenting gay people to straight audiences. Not in any

discriminatory or derogatory ways but jus that straight audiences do not understan certain things. A case in point is a line where a gay man is asked about how hi lover is. His reply "He is great! His T-cel count is up." is met with laughter by some straight audiences. It certainly is not tha they are laughing at an HIV-positive per son, but they just do not know what signifi cance the T-cell count is. We are used to discussing it very often, but others just dc not know. Some changes will be made sc all audiences can fully understand this part

A conversation with Armistead Maupin would not be complete without discussing the subject of outing. To paraphrase Maupin's response: "Outing is a new word, though I have been advocating it for years. Among Rock Hudson's gay friends I was virtually the only one completely out of the closet. As he was becoming more ill many of his friends still encouraged him to stay in the closet. I pointed out that if he didn't come out, the tabloids would have a heyday with it. If he came out himself it could be handled responsibly. My good friend Ian McCellan, who came out in Britain in response to Issue 28, is a good example of how it is possible to be a successful, openly Continued on page 6

Lambda director Tom Stoddard addresses Stonewall

by Bob Boone

On September 27 the recently-formed Stonewall Cleveland brought Tom Stoddard, executive director of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, to address Northeast Ohio lesbians and gay men at the Franklin Circle Church.

Lambda, founded in 1973, is the oldest legal organization of its kind in the nation.

The nonprofit group has won rights for gay students, lesbian mothers, and victims of AIDS discrimination as well as proving instrumental in the passage (after a 15-year fight) of a 1986 New York City ordinance assuring equal treatment in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Lambda continues to work for the repeal of archaic laws still standing in twenty-five states and the District of Columbia which

Stonewall-Cleveland elects board

by Martha Pontoni

The recently formed political organization Stonewall-Cleveland has elected officers and board members and approved

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The new officers are: Karen Schneiderman, president; Keith Sutton, vice president; Bob Reynolds, treasurer; John Lauro, clerk and Paul Svedersky, membership

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Schneiderman is an attorney who has worked with the public defender's office and Legal Aid. Sutton is a senior officer of a marketing communications agency and also serves on the board of the Center. Reynolds is a long-time activist in the Cleveland community. He is a former president of the GEAR Foundation (now the Center) and is involved in the Cleveland City Country Dancers. Lauro is with Realty One and previously worked as licensed social worker with the mentally disabled. Svedersky is a park planner for the Cleveland Metroparks System and for several years was executive director of the Cleveland Waterfront Coalition. Neither Schneiderman or Sutton live in Cuyahoga County.

Other board members include Jeff Gill, Mel Borham, Scott Marous, David Muniak, Clare Parfitt, D.J. Hallett, Sharon Owens and Randall Wilcox.

Sutton reports that there are still open seats remaining on the board, and that women and persons of color are encouraged to apply.

Stonewall-Cleveland meets every second Monday of the month at the Center, 1418 West 29th St., at 7:30 p.m. ▼

criminalize sexual acts between consenting adults of the same gender as well as certain sexual behaviors between man and a woman. Public education through the mainstream media is also an important aspect of Lambda's work.

Karen Schneiderman, president of Stonewall Cleveland, began the meeting with an introduction of the organization to the crowd of some one hundred. Stonewall Cleveland, self-described as a political voice for the lesbian-gay community of northeast Ohio, was formed at the beginning of the summer. Through its presence at such events as the lesbian and gay "Pride '90" festival, and its monthly meetings, the organization

now includes over 400 members.

Stoddard was introduced by Karen Piser,

a member of Stonewall Cleveland who was influential in bringing him for the event.

Piser had studied with Stoddard at New York University's School of Law, where

he teaches such classes as "Sexual Orienta-

tion and the Law."

Stoddard, who attended elementary school in Rocky River but has not been in greater Cleveland since 1970, noted changes that have taken place in the city in the past twenty years; changes evidenced by the very existence of the Stonewall group. Noting that "it is possible now to grow up as a lesbian or gay man and know that you're not alone," Stoddard asserted that "the genie is out of the bottle and you can't put the genie back."

Stoddard cited three specific changes which have strengthened gay and lesbian rights in the nation over the past 25 years. In 1955, the American Law Institute altered the Modern Penal Code so that it no longer defines sexual acts between consenting adults of the same gender as criminal. Illinois was the first state to adopt this code and since then twenty-two other states, including Ohio, have repealed their own so-called "sodomy laws." In addition, this year the supreme courts of Kentucky and Michigan ruled their respective state's sodomy laws unconstitutional under the state constitution. Stoddard views the use of state constitutions to fight such laws especially important considering the continuing refusal of the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn state sodomy laws.

The second major change recognized by Stoddard is the passage of statutes that protect the legal rights of lesbians and gay

men to obtain housing and employment. In 1972, East Lansing, Michigan was the first locality to pass such an ordinance and since then fifty similar bills have won approval in other cities, including Pittsburgh, San Diego, St. Paul, San Francisco, and New York. Cleveland, Stoddard pointed out, is a glaring exception to this trend. Although surrounding cities as Detroit, Columbus, and Pittsburgh have enacted protective legislation for gay men and lesbians, Cleve-

The gay rights movement promotes, and is included in, traditional American values, as described in the Bill of Rights.

land has yet to do so. Stoddard, however, sees no reason that such a law should not be passed in Cleveland within the next five years and suggested that Cleveland Heights and Lakewood would be ideal communities in which to begin.

Stoddard cited the fact that government employees may no longer be discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation as the third major accomplishment of the last 25 years. This exemplar, he says, should help in the effort to extend these rights to privately employed individuals as well.

Gay rights are a part of the fundamental civil rights movement, maintained Stoddard. Referring to the Bill of Rights and its focus on individuality, he said that the gay rights movement "is within, and promotional of, traditional American values." Quoting an abolitionist saying often referred to by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Stoddard ended his prepared statements by saying that "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

More information about the Lambda Fund can be obtained by writing 666 Broadway, New York, New York 10012.

Stonewall Cleveland meets the second Monday of each month at the Lesbian-Gay Community Service Center, and is open to all interested newcomers.