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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE March, 1991

Editorial

Too much men's and too much women's: Just right

Last month a letter writer commented on what he felt was the overabundance of "women's" articles as opposed to "men's" articles in the Chronicle. We hear this complaint, and its reverse, fairly often. Earlier this year we asked a lesbian artist to display her work for a month at the art gallery in our space. Her reply was that the Chronicle was too male-oriented, and she did not want to be connected with us.

Upon hearing this complaint once again, we decided to take a look at the editorial content of the paper over the last two years. We looked through back issues of the Chronicle, counting stories that were "men's," "women's," or of general interest. We counted news articles, front-page pictures, reviews, features, and columns, but not editorials, letters, or ads.

The vast majority of these items, from January 1989 to January 1991, fell in the "general" category. The remainder, it turns out, was almost evenly divided between "men's" and "women's" over the period as a whole. Individual issues during that period varied as events did, but about a quarter of them were also even.

We then went back and counted the front-page feature photo and top story only. The top stories were perfectly divided 20 general, two each "men" and "women." The photos were more varied: in 1989 there were four "men's" and one "women's"-the rest being "general"but in 1990 there were three "men's" and five "women's.'

Then we counted only local news articles and local front-page photos, and nothing else. In 1989 they were close to even, with "women's" stories having a slight edge. In 1990, however, of an average of eight local stories per issue, one was "men's" and two "women's," with five "general." This also varied from issue to is-

sue.

We also noticed something else: the number of local stories had increased during the period. Improving local coverage

has been one of our goals, and this is pleasing to see. We also think we have done well keeping to our goal of equal coverage of "men's" and "women's" is-

sues.

One of the first goals we had as a newspaper over three years ago was to be a middle ground. A place where men and women, lesbians and gay men could communicate with each other. We said we would always support those who did not choose to interact with the opposite sex (there are gay male separatists, too) but we would be different, and really do the best we could to be as equal as possible. Our hope was that this process would bring the community together by learning about each other. We believe this is working.

It isn't always easy for a all-volunteer paper to provide the necessary coverage of the community, though. We can't cover what we don't know about. Sometimes, we hear about an event secondhand by word of mouth occasionally afterwards. Often we get a phone call-sometimes the night before to have someone cover the event.

"Someone" is often an overworked volunteer who is also covering three other stories that month in their spare time. Sometimes, there's no one available. When we ask for a press release or for someone in the group to write it up, it occasionally doesn't happen, and the event doesn't get covered.

One solution to this problem has been to encourage community groups to write and maintain their own columns. That way important information about the group gets to the community at large without waiting for us to find a volunteer to write about it. So far over seven groups at one time or another have taken advantage of this program and more are joining every issue.

The problem of what to cover and how to cover it can be illustrated by last year's Women's Variety Show coverage. That year, the Chronicle marked the event with a front page photo and caption. Some

Guest Opinion

women told us this wasn't enough, and some men said it was too much. What would have been the most appropriate coverage? Our decision was based more on the fact that we couldn't find a volunteer willing to attend and write a review. We thought that the picture with the caption was a nice compromise. Were we wrong?

We appreciate your comments and criticism and we encourage everyone to write to us and express your opinion. This is your paper. We discuss and consider every suggestion we receive from the community. Obviously, we don't respond to all of them, but historically we have been fair in our dealings.

In 1987 Buck Harris was outraged because our policy against sexually-explicit material ruled out clear safer-sex information. After listening to him and others, we realized he was right, and made an exception for safer-sex guidelines. In 1990, after an outcry from the community about ads for NAMBLA, we discontinued the ads.

We aren't deaf, but nor do we serve only a small segment of this community. We must do our best to serve everyone, from lesbian separatists to leathermen, and the job isn't easy. You can see from the information above, we do a damn good job of walking that fine line. We discourage no one, we listen to everyone, and our Editorial Board, who at its best is made up of an equal number of lesbians and gay men, makes their decisions based on their best knowledge.

Every year we get better. We expand our coverage, we are able to pay more people, we try harder. But we couldn't do it without you and your comments and suggestions. We need you to keep us on our toes and tell us what you need as a community.

You might also consider helping us out a few hours each month-it takes good people to make good ideas come true. Keep up the letters, though, we appreciate every one of them. We are learning from you as you are from us. ▼

Lesbians and gays should oppose the Gulf war

by Robert Laycock

The lesbian-gay community should oppose the Persian Gulf War.

Why? What does the war have to do with our issues? The policies and institutions that support the war and maintain military spending directly affect our lives in many ways, from inadequate AIDS spending to the furthering of prejudice and bigotry.

(Let me preface by saying I don't support Saddam Hussein or Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. I do support the troops, which is precisely why I believe they should not be compelled to give their lives under false pretenses. My position today is to support sanctions against Iraq under genuine U.N. leadership, not U.S. leadership with a U.N. facade. Bush forced this war with a bellicose negotiating posture guaranteed to fail.)

The U.S. role in this war is blatant hypocrisy. President Bush's public explanations for the war collapse under reasoned analysis, but regrettably the drums are beating and war fever is on. Some see questioning the war now as sacrilege. But in matters this important we must look at facts. These are the facts as I see them.

President Bush declares that we are fighting for freedom and democracy. This certainly plays well in Peoria and Cleveland, because who among U.S. would oppose these ideals? These are exactly the goals of the lesbian-gay movement.

This war is not about freedom and

democracy. President Bush quotes Amnesty International (for probably the first time in his life) on atrocities committed by Hussein's troops in Kuwait. These are no doubt heinous acts. What Bush doesn't quote is Amnesty International's reports on the human rights abuses of the governments we're now defending: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and others. These include stoning women to death for adultery and executions of political prisoners.

How does Bush decide which tyrants are the good guys and which are the bad? Don't forget, prior to August 2, Saddam Hussein this "brutal dictator" as Bush now calls him-was our friend. We were well aware of his chemical and biological weapons before, and his willingness to use them. The allies sold him the technology.

Most of the countries we're defending are not democracies. They don't have elected leaders or parliaments, but rather ruling families. Last fall, women in Saudi Arabia protested against laws forbidding them to drive. Christian or Jewish allied troops, risking their lives to defend Saudi Arabia, cant' wear religious symbols or worship on Saudi soil.

Why is democracy and freedom this critical in Kuwait and not in El Salvador or South Africa? These countries have abused human rights for decades, with open U.S. support in the former case and only token opposition in the latter. Why did President Bush grant most favored nation trading status to China just one year after the Tiananmen Square massacre?

Why did Bush veto major civil rights legislation at home last year?

President Bush says we are fighting Iraq over its forceful invasion of a sovereign state. In his State of the Union address, Bush declared the invasion "violated everything the community of nations holds dear."

Iraq's invasion is clearly wrong and brutal. It also doesn't advance Palestinian rights, as Hussein claimed in a late bid to split Bush's coalition. But our own history is rife with invasions, occupations, destabilization campaigns, coups and assassinations of heads of state. Moral righteousness on this point takes a practiced delivery.

We all know the recent examples: Panama and Grenada. Even if we could rationalize Panama with the drug connection (which we can't), the 1983 invasion of Grenada stemmed solely from the fact that we didn't like the government.

The U.S. has been closely linked to the 1963 coup and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam, and the 1973 coup and assassination of President Salvador Allende in Chile. Other examples include Guatemala in 1954, the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961, and the Dominican Republic in 1965.

President Bush goes on to say we are fighting to restore the legitimate government of Kuwait to power. This is hard to square against administration testimony to Congress, four months before the invasion,

Continued on page 10

gay people's

RONICLE

Vol. 6, Issue 9

Founded by Charles Callender 1928-1986

Published by KWIR Publications Co-Owners:

Robert Downing Martha J. Pontoni

Editor-in-Chief:

Martha J. Pontoni Associate Editors:

Brian De Witt, Kevin Beaney. Copy Editor:

Donna Stewart Reporters and Writers:

Martha J. Pontoni, Dora Forbes, Don S., Faith Klasek, Robert Laycock, Douglas Braun, Bob Boone, Kevin Beaney, Joan Rizzo, Lois Lane, Stephanie Dlugon. Editorial Cartoonist:

E.J. Farbarik

Art Director:

Christine Hahn Artists:

Dawn Fritz, Bob Boone. Distribution Chief: Robert Downing Office Manager: Ray P. Triggs Sales Manager:

Betsy Marshall Editorial Board:

Martha J. Pontoni, Robert Downing, Brian DeWitt, Christine Hahn, Kevin Beaney, Betsy Marshall.

The Gay People's Chronicle is dedicated to providing a spaco in Cleveland's lesbian-gay community for all women and men to communicate and be involved with each other. This means that every Chronicle, to the best of our ability, will be equally dedicated to both men's and women's issues, as well as issues that affect all of us. Striving for this balance will not only provide the community with a forum to air grievances and express joys, but will also help all of us achieve this balance in our lives.

The Gay People's Chronicle is copyrighted under federal law. Any reproduction of its contents is prohibited unless either written or verbal permission is obtained.

The Chronicle is distributed free of charge in any establishment that permits its distribution.

Any material submitted for publication will be subject to editing. The Chronicle cannot guarantee return of any such materials unless accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

Publication of the name, picture or other representation of an individual, organization, or place of business in the Gay People's Chronicle is not indicative of his, her, or their sexual orientation or character.

The Gay People's Chronicle is not responsible for claims made by advertisers. We reserve the right to reject advertising which is unsuitable for our publication.

gpa

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Correction

The two-year grant from the Community AIDS Partnership Project to the Center, reported last month, was to fund an HIV administrator and one of the existing Living Room coordinator positions. The grant does not provide funding for an HIV calendar coordinator.

The Center apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused CAPP or the community.

Associate Editor position open

The Chronicle is looking for a woman with strong ties to the lesbian community to be an associate editor. The position includes covering events in the lesbian community, supervising reporters, and other tasks as needed. (For parity, the Chronicle desires both male and female associate editors.)

The position includes sitting on the Editorial Board, so using your full correct name cannot be a problem.

Call Martha Pontoni or Kevin Beaney at 621-5280 if you are interested.