gay people's

H R

April, 1991

CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPT PERIODICAL

blic Library

Volume 6 Issue 10

GAY &

LESBIAN RIGHTS IN THE MILITARY!

US MILITARY ADVENTURES ABROAD!

STOP SEXUAL HAWISSMENTS IN THE MILI

NO US MILITARY OCCUPATION of

INQ !!

·PEOPL WHOFIG

Be all you can be-except gay

APR 11991

Cleveland, Ohio

An Independent Chronicle of the Lesbian & Gay Community

Photo by Tom Ritter

A group of about 140 people gathered on Public Square in front of Tower City on Saturday, March 23 to protest the military's policy of dismissing all gays and lesbians, and to show support for troops in the Gulf who must remain tightly closeted. The rally, organized by Stonewall Cleveland, followed a march from the Federal Building on East 9th St.

Metroparks officials meet with gays on entrapment

by Marne Harris

Lesbian-gay community representatives met on March 7 with Cuyahoga County Metroparks officials concerning long-standing accusations of entrapment of gay men by rangers in the parks.

Aubrey Wertheim, representing the Maryann Finegan Project of the Lesbian and Gay Community Service Center and Chronicle publisher and editor Martha Pontoni discussed the allegations with ranger chief Patrick Oliver, and Merroparks attorneys Joe Feighan and Elliot Azoff. Feighan acts as prosecutor for the Metroparks.

During the hour-long meeting, which took place just before the Metroparks' public board meeting, Wertheim outlined the lesbian-gay community's concerns. These included: unequal enforcement, the citing and prosecuting of gay men for public indecency violations while merely warning or even ignoring-heterosexual offenders; and entrapment, where rangers

Judge in Navy bias case calls Steffan a ‘homo' actively proposition gay men, and then

Washington-Attorneys for Joseph Steffan, a former midshipman who was discharged from the U.S. Naval Academy because he is gay, filed a motion in March to disqualify the federal judge that is hearing the case, Judge Oliver J. Gasch, for bias. In a three-year court battle, Steffan has been trying to overturn a Department of Defense policy which states that homosexuality is incompatible with military service.

In an early March hearing in his Washington courtroom, on a motion by the government to preclude Steffan from obtaining government documents that would support his case, Judge Gasch called the discovery request burdensome. Steffan's attorney, Marc Wolinsky, objected. Judge Gasch responded, "The most I would allow is what relates to this plaintiff, not every homo that may be walking the face of the earth at this time."

Wolinsky replied, "On Mr. Steffan's affidavit." Gasch responded, "That he's a homo and knows other homos. Is that it?"

One of Steffan's attorneys, Sandra J. Lowe of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, stated that the judge's comments may have violated the American Bar Association's Code of Judicial Conduct, which prohibits judges from manifesting bias on the basis of sexual orientation. Lowe commented, "The judge's repeated references to Steffan and other gays as 'homos' was particularly inappropriate in a landmark civil rights case challenging discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation." Steffan noted that the difference between "homosexual" and "homo" is

every bit as crucial as the difference between "Negro" and "nigger."

Before he was discharged from the Academy, Steffan was one of the ten highest-ranking members of his class with direct command over 800 fellow midshipmen. Six weeks before graduation, Steffan was questioned by the Academy Commandant about a rumor that he was gay. In accordance with the Academy honor code, Steffan responded truthfully that he is gay. After two disciplinary boards recommended his discharge, Steffan, who is now 26, was forced to resign from the Academy and was denied his diploma and Naval commission.

Feighan and Stokes sign on

A few moments later, Judge Gasch sugto federal gay rights bill

gested that Steffan's lawyers may have

presented insufficient evidence to support one of his discovery requests. "On what basis do you contest [the dismissal from the academy]?," Gasch asked Wolinsky.

CONTENTS

A look at the Lesbian Conference 2 Hate Crime Update... Pride '91 date moved

Tenth Case conference

Policy: Fire all gays

Names Project Quilt returns

New Voice Personals.....

Stalk charges extortion

M. Butterfly...

Ohio's only gay state trooper

Gayme Time...

Travel '91-special section..

by Martha Pontoni

On March 13 the federal gay and lesbian civil rights bill was once again introduced into the House of Representatives. The bill, and a Senate companion, have been introduced in every session of Congress since the mid 1970s.

Rep. Louis Stokes, a long time sponsor of the civil rights bill, and Rep. Ed Feighan, a first-time sponsor, were among the 78 co-sponsors of the bill. Rep. Mary Rose Oakar, who in the last session signed on as a sponsor, has not done so yet this year.

Gregory King of the Human Rights Campaign Fund (HRCF) in Washington says that the civil rights bill is "an increased priority. We are working for

in this decade." The HRCF is passage doubling its legislative staff to work on not only AIDS issues but civil rights issues as well.

King encourages members of Cleveland's lesbian and gay community to call Reps. Stokes and Feighan to thank them for being sponsors this year. King also suggests some calls to Rep. Oakar's office to solicit her participation.

Rep Feighan's Cleveland office can be reached at 522-4382; Rep. Stokes' at 522-4900; and Rep Oakar's at 5224927. All three Washington offices can be reached through the House switchboard at 202-224-3121, or by mail at the House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515. ▼

arrest them if they show any interest.

Wertheim also asked for permission to present sensitivity training to the rangers so they can better understand the nature of the men who cruise the park. He urged the rangers to institute a warning system, similar to the one proposed in February to the Edgewater rangers, which would supply the men with information on other meeting places in the gay community and safer-sex tips.

Joe Feighan and Chief Oliver expressed concern over the number of men they believe are using the Metroparks as a place to pick up men for sex. The prosecutor and the chief discussed working with the community to help stop the cruising. The two areas they are most concerned with are the Harper Ridge area in the South Chagrin Reservation and the Memphis Picnic Area in the Big Creek Reservation, near Memphis and Tiedemann Rds. Chief Oliver asked that men stop using these areas because, he said, they are being a nuisance to others who want to use the park for its intended purposes.

When asked if entrapment of gay men was taking place or if there was a policy encouraging entrapment, Oliver denied that any entrapment was going on. He did say that in June of last year a plainclothes unit was set up to help in drug, public indecency and assault arrests. But he denied any policy or organization by the rangers to seek out gay men and arrest them

Oliver also asked Wertheim to submit a proposal for gay and lesbian sensitivity training for the rangers.

After the meeting, Wertheim and Pontoni attended the public board meeting of the Metroparks to further express concerns to the park system's board of directors.

Sitting on the Metroparks board of directors are vice president Daniel Corcoran; vice president Harvey Oppmann; president Fred Rzepka, and executive director Vern Haptenburg.

Continued on page 7