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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

April, 1991

CWRU hosts 10th annual All-Ohio Conference

by Craig S. Rich

If informative workshops, nationally recognized speakers and lively entertainment is what the community has come to expect from the All-Ohio Lesbian-Gay Conference, then this year's event is sure to please.

Titled "Ten Years of Progress," the 1991 conference will be hosted by Case Western Reserve University's LesbianGay Student Union (LGSU) on Saturday, April 27, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., in Thwing Center at 11111 Euclid Ave, next to Severance Hall. The conference will feature 15 different workshops, a performance by the North Coast Men's Chorus and guest speaker Tim McFeeley. McFeeley is the national director of the Human Rights Campaign Fund, a Washington-based political action committee that lobbies Congress and the White House for lesbian and gay rights and issues.

Members of the LGSU made an extra effort when planning the conference to speak to people in the community to see what kinds of workshops they would most like to attend.

"We wanted an even mix of topics that were of interest to both gay men and lesbi-

ans-not to exclude one or the other," said LGSU President John Mills. "We also tried to cover different age groups, so that not everything was oriented towards college students, but to those out in the working world as well.”

Conference coordinators also tried to include topics geared towards people of different nationalities.

"We wanted to make sure that the other minorities within our minority were also represented," said Mills. "They seem to suffer a double discrimination by beingsay, both black and gay. That's one of the reasons why we invited Black and White Men Together to come and speak."

Several other local, state and national Issues organizations like Health Taskforce, Stonewall Union and the American Civil Liberties Union, are volunteering their knowledge and experience by leading the scheduled workshops. Topics include:

Pride '91

Discrimination

Joint Ownership and Insurance Coming Out to Family Gay Youth

Pride festival moved to June 22, Goodtime III cruise planned

The Pride '91 March and Festival date has been changed to Saturday, June 22, a week later than was originally planned. Pride organizers were unable to get parade permits on the 15th, due to a scheduling conflict with a Desert Storm welcomehome rally planned by WJW-TV Channel 8.

Organizers of Pride '91 view the rescheduling as positive.

"It really wasn't a problem," said cochair Martha Pontoni. "Even if we could have gotten a march permit for that day, we didn't really want to compete with an event such as Desert Storm."

Pontoni added that the situation turned out in Pride's favor. "Now Pride will really be a week-long event, starting with the cruise and ending with the festival." A cruise on the new Goodtime III, the ship's premier voyage, is scheduled on the evening of Saturday, June 15 as the kickoff for Pride '91.

The Goodtime III cruise is being presented in conjunction with Pride '91 by the North Coast Bowling Association as part of their annual Gay Invitational Fellowship Tournament that weekend.

More than 1,000 lesbians and gay men are expected on the cruise; the Goodtime III being much larger than the Goodtime II it replaces. The cruise will begin boarding at 6:30 p.m. on the 15th, and cast off at 7:00. Tickets are $15 in advance and $17 at

the gate. The cruise is expected to sell out, so everyone is encouraged to buy tickets in advance. Tickets are available through G.I.F.T., at P.O. Box 93784, Cleveland OH 44101-5784.

The theme of this year's celebration is "Bridging the Gaps," meaning those between men and women, gay and non-gay, black and white, etc.

As they did last year, Oven Productions will present the music and entertainment at the festival.

Plans for a 5K run and a film festival are still in the works. "Having an extra week really helps us to add these special events into our schedule,” Pontoni said. “It really is electrifying to see our celebration grow every year."

Fundraising events are already on the calendar. On April 6, the Pride '91 Committee will hold an April Fool's Day Basement Sale at the Chronicle offices, 2206 Superior Viaduct, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The sale will include baked goods and vintage Pride T-shirts, buttons and posters, all at reduced prices.

Another fund-raising activity planned is the sale of Pride '90 videos. These professional videotapes, produced by Blue Sand Productions, are available by mail or at the Basement Sale for $19.95 (plus $1 for shipping and handling).

For more information, call 621-5280.

Names Quilt returns to N.E. Ohio

The Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt is returning to Northeast Ohio on May 3, 4 and 5 at Lakeland Community College. This display of 72 sectionstwice the size of the February 1990 display-will include 576 individual panels from the Quilt, plus 21 additional new panels turned in to the Cleveland chapter in recent months. All of the Cleveland-area panels have been requested, and depending upon availability, all will be in this display.

Display hours are:

Friday, May 3: 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Saturday, May 4: Noon to 9:00 p.m. Sunday, May 5: Noon to 6:00 p.m. Volunteers are needed for the usual support services-monitors, merchandise sales, and set-up and breakdown. To volunteer, call volunteer coordinator Karen Hammack at 255-2156 in Mentor. Set-up and volunteer training will be the evening

of May 2.

Names Project founder Cleve Jones will be visiting the display and is expected to be available for various media events.

Merchandise related to the Quilt is available from the local chapter. Common Threads, the Home Box Office video, as well as the Quilt book, buttons and posters are now in stock, along with some extralarget sizes in Names Project T-shirts. Call 281-1610 for more information.

Hiram College has been added to the Northeast Ohio display sites, May 20-21. Others include Ohio Wesleyan University, Orange High School, the Cleveland Clinic and the National Black Mayors' Conference at the Cleveland Convention Center.

New panels are being accepted prior to and during this display period. For information on panel-making, or to turn in a panel, please contact Quilt display coordinator Dale Melsness at 281-1610. ▼

Black and White Men Together Gays and the Military Living with AIDS ACT-UP Homosexuality and Religion Safer Sex for Lesbians Safer Sex for Gay Men

Pre-registration for the All-Ohio Conference includes admission to the keynote speech, all the workshops and the North Coast Men's Chorus performance. Coffee and pastries will be served in the morning and lunch may be purchased on the premises. During the lunch period, guests will have the opportunity to take part in an organizational fair where representatives from all the participating organizations will be distributing information and answering questions.

Due to time constraints and a tight budget, this year's conference is only one day, but the LGSU hopes that in 1992 it will be back to a weekend event. The undergraduate group has had its difficulties in the past few years, but is currently back on track and determined to again be a recognizable force on the CWRU campus.

"Of the past nine conferences, eight of them were held here at CWRU," said Mills. "It's something we take great pride in hosting.

"I would like to invite the whole community to come and enjoy the conference. Let us know what you liked and disliked, so that we can make next year's even better."

For more information or directions to CWRU, call John Mills at 216-7542142.

'Family' eatery chain sets policy to fire all of its gay workers

Cracker Barrel Restaurants, a major chain of family-style restaurants, has fired gay employees after announcing a corporate policy to ban workers "whose sexual preferences fail to demonstrate normal heterosexual values."

Cracker Barrel owns and operates some 90 restaurant/giftshops, styled to resemble country stores and located primarily along interstate highways in the South and Midwest, including one in the Columbus area. The chain is owned by Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores, Inc., headquartered in Lebanon, Tenn.

The policy, released in January, states the company's desire to uphold "traditional American values" as justification for terminating gay employees. At least nine employees have been fired.

"Cracker Barrel is founded upon a concept of traditional American values. ." says the company. "It is inconsistent with our concept and values, and is perceived to be inconsistent with those of our customer base, to continue to employ individuals in normal heterosexual values which have been the foundation of families in our society."

The company issued retraction of sorts shortly after receiving calls from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Queer Nation of Atlanta, the Martin Luther King Center, the Tennesee Gay and Lesbian Alliance, and the media.

The "retraction," dated February 22, says: "Our recent position on the employ-

ment of homosexuals in a limited number of stores may have been a well-intentioned overreaction to the perceived values of our customers and their comfort levels with these individuals . . . In the future, we will deal with any disruptions in our units, regardless of the cause, on a store-by-store basis."

But NGLTF Families Project Director Ivy Young dismissed the retraction, saying, "Cracker Barrel is calling its deliberate discrimination a 'well-intentioned overreaction.' How can bias and bigotry ever be considered well-intentioned? How can any person's right to fair and equitable treatment be denied by some other individual's comfort level? Gay and lesbian workers still have no protection."

NGLTF and regional lesbian and gay groups have established a 24-hour mailgram hotline to protest the policy and have launched demostrations and other actions against the company. Sponsors of the gay and lesbian civil rights bill in the U.S. Congress have been informed of the Cracker Barrel policy by NGLTF lobbyists.

Gays, lesbians and their supporters are urged to call 800-325-6000, Hotline ID# 9823, to send a prepared message to Dan Evins, president of the Cracker Barrel Company. The cost of the Western Union message is $7, charged to caller's telephone bill. Mastercard, Visa and American Express are also accepted.

Company executives have refused to talk to the media or gay and lesbian activists.▼

"The Dinner Party" has tenth anniversary celebration

The 1981 Cleveland exhibit of Judy Chicago's sculpture "The Dinner Party,” which celebrates the achievements of women in history, will be remembered at a 10th anniversary celebration on Sunday, May 5.

The benefit celebration is sponsored by the Cleveland-Akron supporters of Through the Flower's Permanent Home Committee, which is working to find a permanent home for the piece. It is set to be an eventful afternoon of remembrances of the 1981 exhibition and a look ahead toward a permanent gallery space.

State Rep. Jane Campbell, honorary chairperson, will welcome everyone present, including Judy Chicago and former volunteers from Northeast Ohio who participated in the Cleveland exhibition, one of the most successful in the sculpture's world tour.

Highlights of the May 5 celebration will include Chicago discussing her current work; a video documenting the recent assault by Congress and the media; the film

"Right Out of History: The Making of Judy Chicago's 'Dinner Party,' " by Johanna Demetrakas, documenting the creation of the exhibit; a special auction of Chicago's artwork, including memorabilia from "The Dinner Party" and "The Birth Project"; and a reunion of the many people who participated in the exhibit.

Everyone interested is invited to attendthe event, which will be, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Civic, 3130 Mayfield Rd., Cleveland Heights. Proceeds will go to the national fund to find a permanent home for "The Dinner Party." The event has been partially underwritten by Booksellers and Original Copy Centers.

General admission donation is $10; students and seniors $8; and $25 for sponsors. For more information, call 991-1780. Tickets may be reserved by mail. Send checks made payable to Through the Flower/The Dinner Party Fund, to 3174 Ludlow Rd., Cleveland, OH 44120. Tickets will be held at the door. ▼