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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

September, 1991

City lesbian and gay rights proposals are in the works

by Mike Radice

Lesbian and gay rights ordinance proposals in the city of Cleveland are moving forward. Members of Stonewall Cleveland have been involved in persuading the city of Cleveland to enact such legislation and have been working on this for the last several months.

The mayor's office, the Office of Community Development and the City Council president's office have indicated interest in assisting with the introduction of lesbianand gay-sensitive legislation. The types of legislation intended for initial introduction

include the addition of "sexual orientation" to the following city ordinances:

1. The Fair Housing Ordinance, to insure that lesbians and gays cannot be denied housing or access to public accommodations and health-care facilities based on who they love. Included will be a provision that specifies procedures for the satisfactory resolution of complaints filed by lesbians and gays, and penalties given for offenders that are equal to those given for offenses against other minority groups.

2. Equal Employment Opportunity policies in city hiring, to insure that lesbian and

Paper's equipment stolen

by Marne Harris

Sometime during the night of August 10, the offices of the Gay People's Chronicle were entered and robbed of computers and other equipment. Publisher Martha Pontoni found the offices unlocked the following Monday morning when she came to work.

Taken from the office along with the computers were three phones, an answering machine, a fax machine, a microwave oven, a three-piece stereo system, candy from the Honor Snack box, seven cases of soda pop and a clock.

Pontoni reported the theft to the Cleveland police, who responded within 15 minutes of the first call. A report was taken, but there are no suspects.

"Response from the community has been tremendous," Pontoni said. "Since the story came out in the Plain Dealer we have had tremendous community reaction." Callers have volunteered services, computer hardware and money.

"We had people calling from all over the state asking what kind of help we needed," she said. "Not only gay people, but everyone who was concerned we wouldn't be able to continue publishing."

KWIR Publications, which owns the Chronicle, did have business insurance, so most of the equipment will be replaced, Pontoni said.

Donations are needed to raise money for a security system and to cover the difference between what the insurance will pay to replace the computers and what is needed to compensate for the loss of information that occurred with the theft.

A security system has already been installed by Techman Services. Jerry Szoka, owner of Techman, is waiting for payment on the system until

enough money has been raised from the community.

Donations of time and energy were readily accepted to help put out the this issue. An anonymous donation was also received from a group of men from the East Side. They challenged gays and lesbians from Lakewood and Ohio City to double and triple the $1,000 donated. "We think the Chronicle is too valuable to lose, and we want others to recognize its importance and donate also."

Many callers to the Chronicle were concerned about their names being in one of the computers that was stolen. Since KWIR Publications also owns a database service with a wide variety of clients, there were over 100,000 names in the computer's hard-disk memory. "There is no way the thieves, even if they knew anything about computers, would be able to tell the names of gay people from the thousands of other names in the computer," said Pontoni. "There are no obvious identifying marks in the database."

Pontoni also said that anyone buying a piece of stolen property would not likely be foolish enough to use the information on the hard disk, drawing attention to the fact that the equipment was stolen.

According to Pontoni, it is not possible at this time to know if the mailing list can be recovered fully. Backups existed but they were corrupted.

Pontoni is asking any subscriber who did not receive a Chronicle by mail this month to call the office. Other information that was lost included financial records of both the Chronicle and Alice Paul Printers, which subleases from KWIR Publications.

"I expect the Chronicle to be up and running as usual for the October issue," Pontoni said. "We can't let some-

thing like this stop us. And maybe we'll even be better for it." ▼

gay city workers are not discriminated against. The plan is to include a provision requiring all elected city officials and administrators to participate in special training in the recognition of discrimination according to sexual orientation. It will also include the specification of procedures for the satisfactory resolution of complaints by lesbians and gays, and provide that penalties given to offenders equal those given for offenses against other minority groups.

3. Contractor requirements. The intended change will require the city to include, among its requirements to contractors, the inclusion of "sexual orientation" in the contractors' Equal Employment Opportunity policy, prior to contracting.

In addition to changes in existing legislation, new legislation is currently being prepared. One piece of new legislation, in the planning stages, is an ethnic-intimidation ordinance that includes "sexual orientation."

Also planned is the introduction of a domestic partnership ordinance and changes to city employee benefit programs that include recognition of gay and lesbian partners as "family members," enabling them to benefits equal to those in heterosexual partnerships.

The introduction of the domestic partnership ordinance and changes to city employee benefit programs are planned to follow the enactment of the other additions and ordinances. This decision was based on consultation with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in Washington, D.C., as it has been their experience that domestic partnership and employee benefit program changes are more controversial and difficult to enact than civil rights ordinances, and would be more easily passed with that other legislation already in place.

The Greater Cleveland lesbian and gay community is being asked to participate in the introduction and passage of this historic legislation. Hearings on the changes and ordinances, open to the lesbian and gay community, will be held in November.

The purpose of the hearings is for lesbians and gays to tell their stories of discrimination, and to offer advice and opinions. Lesbians and gays are also welcome to attend any Stonewall Cleveland meetings, held the second Monday of every month at 7:30 p.m. at the Lesbian and Gay Community Service Center, to offer input or assistance. ▼

Radice is a member of Stonewall Cleveland.

Cleveland Unite seeks to end discrimination and separatism

by Joan Rizzo

Roger Zucker gestured toward the crowd that packed W. 29th St. at the Pride '91 Festival. "Look at how we've changed," he said. "We've come out. We're not living underground anymore. Those days, that old culture, are gone. Separatism is wrong!"

He was right, in one sense. Twelve hundred people were groovin' in broad daylight, wearing T-shirts and buttons that proudly proclaimed their politics and their pleasures.

But remnants of the old, clandestine culture die hard. The world of Joan Nestle and James Barr still exists for some lesbians and gays. Role-playing and strict separatism remain in Cleveland.

Cleveland Unite originated as a result of a conflict between Zucker and his employers, the owners of the Leather Stallion. Zucker was a bartender and enjoyed serving women who came to the club. According to Zucker, whenever male patrons complained about their presence, the owners would ask the women to leave the bar.

After being ordered repeatedly not to serve women, Zucker took the stage on May 28 to host a trivia contest, as he did every week. But instead of playing Alex Trebeck, Zucker seized the moment and announced his resignation over the PA system, to a packed house. He shouted that

the Stallion's discriminatory policy against serving women was the reason he was quitting. He took his severance pay, had 500 "Cleveland Unite" buttons made, and hasn't turned back since.

Zucker told the Chronicle that dress codes, bouncers who check membership cards, and even variety shows are discriminatory practices. "Anything that's a public event, and excludes members of a certain group, is discriminatory. Anyone who is denied service in a bar can sue that establishment for discrimination-a suit is possible."

Zucker is a member of the Rangers, a Cleveland uniform and leather club. He pointed out that women can join the club as associate members, and that many men's leather clubs across the country provide associate memberships to women, and include them in social gatherings. Zucker is concerned about the impact of separatism on lesbian and gay rights. "How can we expect the heterosexual community to accept us if we're not united with each other?"

"Cleveland Unite" buttons have been seen as far away as New York and Canada. As for Roger Zucker? He has taken a new mixology position. You can find him tending bar at Memoirs, "A mixed club!" He's happily serving women without restrictions or dress codes. ▼

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