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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE April, 1991

Editorial

It's not the sex, it's the unequal enforcement

It became apparent, upon reading the March 8 Plain Dealer article about the Metroparks entrapment, that the lesbian and gay community's outrage at the way gay men are being treated in the public parks could be misconstrued as promotion or support of public sex. The article certainly read that way.

The heterosexual community's lack of information, and their conclusions based on stereotypes colors the true injustice here. This only serves to further enforce and enhance negative stereotypes about lesbians and gay men.

For example: the Plain Dealer reported that the two men who are fighting their public indecency charges grabbed at the crotch of the arresting rangers, and that is why they were arrested. This is what the rangers told the PD. However, what the PD didn't mention is that these two men flatly deny doing anything of the sort, and that is why they are risking everything to publicly defend themselves.

Why would these men lie? If they really did what the rangers said they did, why don't they just pay the fine and be more careful? Why would the rangers falsify reports? Maybe hatred of gays? It wouldn't be the first time.

But what does the public see? They see the publisher of the Chronicle and the director of services of the Lesbian-Gay Community Service Center going to bat for two men who grabbed some ranger's crotch.

Maybe it would be better if we didn't say anything. After all, the public still thinks we are a bunch of sex-driven mani-

Feature

acs who lurk in parks to screw each other and small boys. If we make a big stink out of this and start drawing attention to the fact that some gay men do look for sex with other men in parks, won't everyone hate us even more? Maybe we should just keep our mouths shut. These men shouldn't be in the parks anyway. Don't they know about the bars and the Center? Can't they have normal relationships like the rest of us and forget this mindless sex with anyone in sight every night? Yeah,

sure.

The truth is that no matter what the heterosexual community thinks of us, we as a community, without judgment of any kind, have an obligation and a duty to help and protect anybody who is victim to violence or persecution because he or she is perceived to be gay or lesbian.

Maybe some men shouldn't be in the parks looking for other men, but no one should be singled out for mistreatment because they are or appear to be-gay. Some of the men who have been arrested were not cruising or having sex in public. They were just there to enjoy the park, and because they were perceived to be gay they became the target of the rangers' entrapment scheme.

Are heterosexuals arrested in the park for public sex? The Metroparks rangers' chief couldn't give us an answer. Do you really believe that straight couples aren't having sex in the parks? Check out any "lovers' lane." How come there are no plainclothes female rangers propositioning men for sex and then arresting them? We know that not every arrest of a gay

person for public indecency is suspect. If gay men are having public sex they should be arrested. But so should heterosexuals, who are also having sex in the parks. It is against the law and offensive to other people who use the park. Sex-meaning open genital contact, not mere kissing-by anyone in public is offensive.

The issue here is not whether public cruising and sex is right or wrong, but the injustice that these men receive. The stigma these gay men experience is way beyond what a heterosexual person would experience if brought up on the same charges. And we are willing to bet that the heterosexuals are not being called "breeders" or other derogatory names, or being slammed against patrol cars by the rangers when they are arrested-if they are arrested, and not just warned off.

Remember that some of these arrest victims don't even self-identify as gay. They don't know about this community and they believe the only way to satisfy the hunger they feel is anonymous sex. These men are truly victims. We all need to help bring them into the community, help them understand that the stereotypes they were forced to believe are wrong, and that there is more to being gay them just sex-it is possible to live happily as a gay or lesbian person.

Don't blame these guys, but don't support their behavior either. Let's get our people out of the closets, out of the parks and into life. It really is our responsibility. They are our brothers even if they don't know it yet.▼

A look at planning the Lesbian Conference: 'Red meat' lesbians should attend—to include views in agenda

by Debbie Fraker

Though she is no longer directly involved in its coordination, Michelle Crone was one of the founding mothers of the National Lesbian Conference, scheduled for Atlanta, April 24-28.

In 1986, she attended an international lesbian conference in Switzerland. Crone says that it was through this meeting that she began to realize lesbians in this country "don't have a clear focus on who we are and what our agenda is." She and three other lesbians-Kay Ostburg, Joyce Hunter and Urvashi Vaid-began working on the concept of a national conference for lesbians. Plans began to crystallize after the 1987 March on Washington, when more lesbians became involved.

Throughout the process, Crone and the other originators have kept certain priorities in mind, among them the concept that the conference should not have a set agenda or be organized by a major national organization. It was to be what lesbians from across the country made it, what they needed it to be, with as little as possible predetermined by the organizers.

This may explain the apparent lack of organization evident in the process, which is drawing comment from many lesbians as the date for the event approaches. Despite the slow pace on many fronts, Crone and NLC staff members are determined to stand by their original operating strategy as the only one appropriate for a lesbian conference.

"In the beginning, we said, "This is a very noble experiment. I hope it's going to work," Crone candidly admits. She added: "It's very important to make this a grass-

roots project. In the process of organizing, we got women in three-piece suits and women in full crystal regalia. We asked ourselves, 'How do we make this a safe place for all lesbians?''

Crone says she has high expectations for this year's conference. "The vision of this conference is that everyone's voice is respected. There is no head-set on it other than making sure the diversity is there."

Crone is adamant that the conference be "a forum to see how we can learn to deal with our differences, instead of trying to kill each other because you eat white sugar, red meat, or have a boy child."

Paralyzed by purism?

Researching the National Lesbian Conference was a frustrating experience. The NLC office in not an organized place. But remembering Crone's comment about lesbians not having a clear focus or agenda makes the disarray more understandable. As conference fund-raiser Bridget Collins says, "It looks chaotic, but stuff is getting done."

However, based on press releases and interviews, conference planners appear to have spent more time discussing ageism, racism and classism than planning the conference schedule or doing outreach to the Atlanta community for participation, housing and other types of conference support. One decision was apparently easy to make: To avoid the appearance of taking sides on food issues, the NLC will not be involved in serving food of any kind.

Many lesbians have voiced concerns that the NLC will be paralyzed by "purist"

attitudes. The possibility that the conference will be controlled and even stagnated by lesbians who feel that "political correctness" is nothing more than taking whatever position opposes "the patriarchy" has not been ruled out. Lesbians and the NLC need a goal to work toward rather that just an evil to rail against.

But I have registered for the conference. Why? Because if lesbians who gripe about not wanting their politics controlled by the purists don't go, it's possible that the only thing accomplished will be more resolutions declaring the patriarchy to be inherently evil-not news! And a national organization will be formed to tell us that we shouldn't subscribe to On Our Backs, shouldn't eat meat, shouldn't work for corporations, shouldn't reproduce male children...

Am I missing anything? Oh yes: of course we should never enjoy leather restraints.

are

Lesbians tired of hearing "shouldn't" from other lesbians. We hear that often enough from our fathers. So I am going to the conference because the only way I can see that we will ever find unity as a lesbian nation is if we get past our differences, sit down, look each other in the face and talk to each other.

That said, what follows may sound like cheerleading. Maybe. Despite all my reservations (and those from the dozen-plus women interviewed for this article), I still have high hopes for the conference. The highest of those hopes is that every single lesbian who told me she didn't think the NLC would respect her needs will go and see to it that her needs are met. Because if

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the conference doesn't hear about your needs, any national organization created by it won't be able to represent you. Or me.

Some Answers:

The National Lesbian Conference will take place April 24-28 in Atlanta. You probably know that already. But if that tidbit doesn't quite slake your thirst for knowledge about this historic event, perhaps the answers that NLC organizers provided to the following questions will help.

What is the purpose of the conference? Will the NLC establish a new national lesbian organization? If so, what will that organization be?

The NLC is intended to create a national lesbian agenda and assign that agenda to a

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