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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE July, 1991
Forty Whacks
by Lizzie Borden
Jeers and Rocks: To Brent Larkin, the Plain Dealer's editorial page director, who killed a commissioned freelance article about Pride Weekend by Aubrey Wertheim. The piece was to appear in the "Perspectives" section of the Sunday edition on June 23, as similar ones have for the past two years. LB's sources say Larkin called the night editors and had it pulled after the paper was put to bed. Larkin later told Wertheim that he wanted an article that was "less applauding" of the gay community, and focusing more on the stigma of homosexuality. Wertheim told him to stuff it.
Other articles publicizing the festival were relegated to the "Friday" entertainment mag, which shows how seriously we're taken in this town. Watch the August Chronicle to read Wertheim's piece.
Scraps and Bones: To add insult to injury, the PD had virtually no coverage of Saturday's Pride March. They published only two photos with a caption in the "Metro" section. No story accompanied them. Oh, throw us a bone, dears! Hey boytoys and girlfriends, LB has a fabulous suggestion. Why don't we just take the quarters we spend on the daily Plain Dealer and give them to the Lesbian and
Gay Service Center, the Health Issues Taskforce, the Pride Committee, or any other queer cause? Over ten thousand of you are reading this column right now, whadda ya say? Who wants to read about stewed prunes at a VFW convention anyway?
Just a Bunch of Old Guys Jerkin' Off In The Morning. Lanigan and Webster, the top-rated morning radio show in Cleveburg, has taken up gay-bashing to boost its ratings even higher. On Friday, June 22, Lanigan made some off-color remarks about gays on his WMJI (Magic 105.7 FM) show that airs weekdays from 610 a.m. When he and Webster opened the listener request line the audience joined in. A homophobic free-for-all ensued, and gay jokes were swapped over the public airwaves. But that's not all, dears...
Hasn't He Withered Up And Kicked The Bucket Yet? FCC fugitive Gary Dee, filling in for the vacationing Lanigan on June 24, joined the other sleazos on Tragic 105. At 7:30 a.m., they started with Martina Navratalova jokes, then moved on to the Pride '91 March. Dee (Cleveland's premier misogynist) described two women walking along the lavender stripe on Euclid Ave., kissing while they marched in the parade. “I'm not paying my cable com-
pany 19 dollars a month to watch that!" quipped Dee. "how can they let those sexual perverts march through downtown like that anyway?" No wonder the FCC is after him. By the way brothers and sistahs, the companies that advertised on the “Lanigan and Webster Show" that morning are Orkin Pest Control (how apropos!), GTE Mobilnet, and Honda of America, (oh, how I hate to give up my Civic. Guess it's time to go Toyota!)
Daddy Always Wanted A Goy. What gives with Piroshki-Town anyway? What's with all the gay-bashing? TalkTalk radio host Joel Rose has thrown his limp wrist in with a call for action to reinstate sodomy laws in Ohio. He's broadcasting hate propaganda from his new show on WERE 1300 AM. Sources close to LB say that Joel is Jewish but doesn't identify with the Jewish community in Cleve-Town. Perhaps a visit from Queer Nation would have Joel schmoozing Chevrei Tikva over spatzel at Truffles! By the way, didn't Rose used to be on WEWSTV, or WWWE, or the Barnaby Show, or one of those? Can't any of these old geezers hold a job, for goodness sake?
Looking Up Our Own Skirts. Two publications that made LB's summer reading list: the July issue of The Advocate, featuring the Annual Sissy Awards, The Sissy of the Year for 1991, His Unholiness Cardinal John O'Connor, appears in drag on the cover. LB's favorite Advocates gave a hearty "Hail... Mary" to O'Connor "for relentlessly and consciously promot-
ing homophobia and anti-gay violence, for continuing to deprive minorities and teens from getting adequate safer-sex information, for violating every constitutional standard of separation of church and state. ..and for conveniently forgetting just how many, many, many gay priests there really are." The list of indiscretions goes on. Rumor has it that last year's Sissy, Sen. Jesse Helms refused to turn over his tiara to O'Conner at the Awards ceremony. They had to call Bert Parks for advice on how to
pull them apart.
On a more literary note, LB's W.H. Auden Award goes to Cleveland's gay and lesbian youth group, PRYSM, for their exemplary publication, Collective Works.of PRYSM. LB purchased a copy at the Pride Festival and was very moved, dears. The collection of poetry and prose is wellwritten and truly queer-positive. Contact PRYSM at the Lesbian and Gay Services Center to obtain a copy.
Calling All Spies! That's it for now boy-toys and girlfriends. However, LB does have one eentsy announcement to proclaim: I'm asking you, yes, you to inform me about any media members who partake in that nasty national pastime called gay-bashing. Let me know who's bashing queers in print and on the air in Cleavage-Land. I'll check them out and let you know who advertises on their programs so that you can put your Guppie dollars to better use-perhaps to send LB on a lesbian cruise. She could use a vacation, you know. Until next time, darlings . Ta!
One-man show on AIDS due here Dancin'in the Streets set for
Canadian writer and performer David MacLean will bring his one-man show, Quarantine of the Mind, to Cleveland for one performance only, on Saturday, July 13, at 8:00 p.m., at Spaces, 2220 W. Superior Viaduct.
The play, which deals with the AIDS crisis and the challenge it has presented to the gay male community, was critically acclaimed throughout its Canadian run last year. Reviews pointed out its intelligence and frankness as well as its humor; one described it as "crucial theatre." MacLean was praised as "a gifted
performer, displaying fine comic skills and emotional depth."
“Quarantine of the Mind is about being a gay man in crazy times," says MacLean. "It reflects the efforts of gay men to reinvent themselves amidst the immensity of death and tragedy surrounding their community. I view it as a ritual of hope.
"As the performer, I embody aspects of many different characters, which allows me to investigate to what extent personal concerns intersect with those of other gay men."
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The Health Issues Taskforce, a Cleveland-area AIDS service and education organization, has announced that it will sponsor the seventh annual "Dancin' in the Streets" street fair on July 14, from 1:00 to 10:00 p p.m. The rain date is July 21. "Dancin' in the Streets" will be held on Huron Road Mall between Prospect and Euclid avenues in downtown Cleveland. It will feature a variety of entertainment, food and beverages, and educational and community exhibits.
This year's event will include an expanded area for community-based organizations and individuals to exhibit information and offer items for sale. There is a fee of $50 for groups or individuals that wish to sell items at the street fair.
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have information booths only can obtain booth space at no charge. Groups or individuals who want more information on booth space should call the Health Issues Taskforce office at 621-0766.
The committee is also planning on offering a wider variety of entertainment at this year's event. The committee is especially interested in having more women's groups as part of this year's lineup. Interested individuals or groups should contact the Taskforce office to request an application.
Anyone interested in volunteering should also call. Volunteers are needed for a variety of jobs, including ticket sales, food sales, set-up and tear-down, street decoration and trash collection. Volunteers are asked to work at least two hours.▼
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