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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE
STONEWALL
CLEVELAND
Ope
This space has been donated to Stonewall Cleveland by the Chronicle, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Chronicle staff or management. by Mike Radice
Stonewall-Cleveland, Greater Cleveland's civil rights protection organization for gays and lesbians, has experienced numerous changes and additions in recent months while endeavoring to secure equal rights and protections for our community. The following is the first in a series of columns which will outline the activities of the organization, as well as the changes, thus providing you with an opportunity to participate and understand local civil rights efforts.
Cleveland Civil Rights Ordinance. Stonewall-Cleveland activists have been working with Cleveland City Council members, the Mayor's office, and the Community Relations Board to encourage them to support amendments to Cleveland's civil rights legislation and fair housing law. The
amendments propose adding "affectional orientation," "sex," and "physically
+
The Good News
This space has been donated to Emmanuel MCC by the Chronicle, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Chronicle staff or management.
by Roger
We hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving this past November. But now, the Christmas season is already upon us. You can see it everywhere you look. Commercialism has been earning a new definition during this time earlier each year. My friend who works in a popular downtown shopping store has been looking at Christmas decorations since September! Watch T.V.; every other commercial is aimed at buying a Christmas present. Christmas specials have been popping up for more than a month now, with very few having any reference to the true meaning of why we celebrate.
One special, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" tells children why Santa brings them gifts, and why he chose December 25 as Christmas Day. He simply looks up in the sky at the star that three wise men once saw, and he, too, like they did, followed it as a sign as to what he needed to do. Regardless of whether or not you believe in a Santa Claus, maybe we need to do what the three wise men did. They all followed their hearts and found peace, understanding, and a basis for their lives. The three wise men brought gifts to the Christ child to honor His birth.
Santa brings the children toys to bring them pleasure and to honor His birthday.
But why do we still give gifts now? Isn't Christmas supposed to be a time of sharing love, and of rejoicing in new life? A gaudily wrapped box is hardly an appropriate substi-
December, 1991
challenged as protected classes to city ordinances that currently prohibit discrimination based only on "race," "religion,” "creed," and "ethnic background." The categories targeted for amendment include equal and protected access to public accommodations (e.g.: city parks, city street usage for parades, etc.); housing; city employment, employment in businesses that contract with the city of Cleveland; and proper investigation into hate crimes.
The ordinance changes are currently being written by Stonewall's Legislation Committee and will be introduced after we have collected the data necessary to document the existence of discrimination, as required by Cleveland City Council. In order to convince Cleveland City Council of the existence of discrimination against the members of our community we need for you to tell your stories of discrimination and hate crime violence to us. Approximately 50 of you came to our public hearings, and we appreciated your courage. For those of you who were not able to attend, and would like to provide testimony, please contact Mike Radice at 651-4439. You are also welcome to put your testimony into writing and mail it to Stonewall-Cleveland, P.O. Box 5936, Cleveland, Ohio 44101-0936. Your name, address and phone number will be kept confidential.
To help fund the expensive processes
tute. This year, instead of trying to melt your credit cards at the shopping malls, try having a new outlook on who is with you, and who is not; who could be with you, if only you asked. Think about your losses and gains this year. Maybe you can help change them for your own betterment.
Jesus loved everyone, regardless of their sin. No one was perfect in His eyes, yet everyone could be forgiven if the only asked. Many gays and lesbians live apart from their biological families and the friends they grew up with because of their lifestyles. It isn't easy being alone or being cut off from people you love, but maybe a phone call or a dinner invitation could change that. If you host gatherings, invite some friends over! If you know of a lonely friend this year, make sure that they are there, too. If your family is waiting for an invitation, don't be stubborn. The phone works both ways, use it and call them. Let them know that you care, and that you want to be with them. Tis the season for giving, but giving doesn't always have a register receipt attached to it.
For anyone who wishes for a home to come to where they're always welcome, Emmanuel Metropolitan Community Church is open for you. Doors are open by 10:30 am. Sunday momings for worship, and by 7:30 p.m. Wednesday evenings for a time of prayer and any help we might offer. Stop in anytime at 10034 Lorain Ave., or call 651-0129 for further information. Don't forget that on Saturday, December 14 and Sunday, December 15, the church will be presenting two different shows of its annual Christmas concert. We will be having special Christmas Eve services this year beginning at 10:45 p.m. Bring a friend, and come to God's home for the holidays, and remember: It's A Wonderful Life!
involved in collecting documentation of discrimination, writing and introducing the legislation, and informing the gay and lesbian community of their newly-granted civil rights after the legislation has passed, Stonewall-Cleveland has applied for a $9,000 grant from the Unitarian Universalist Social Concerns Grants Panel in Boston. We expect to know by April 1992 if they will fund this project.
Stonewall-Cleveland P.A.C. At our November Board retreat it was decided that we would form a Political Action Committee. The committee's purpose, at minimum, would be to make campaign contributions to candidates whom we determine to be openly supportive of gay and lesbian equal rights; to lobby public officials; and to endorse issues that we determine will benefit our community. We are in the process of creating bylaws and are in the process of applying for official P.A.C. status with the Board of Elections. We will provide more details on the P.A.C. in next month's column.
Rep. Oakar's relationship to our community. On November 8, StonewallCleveland joined forces with StonewallCincinnati and the Human Rights Campaign Fund and made scheduled visits to the Washington, D.C. staffs of Rep. Oakar (of Cleveland), Rep. Graddison (of Cincinnati) and Senator Glenn. The purpose of the visits was to encourage them to sign onto the lesbian and gay civil rights bill as cosponsors. Senator Metzenbaum's office was also visited so that we could extend our
My Turn
Each month this column will be written by a person of color, for people of color. If you would like to write for this space, please call Kimberly Taylor at 621-5280.
by Mistinguette Smith-Malone
I've asked that this column only be considered for publication if the editor of "My Tum" receives no other submissions for the new column. After all, we are a diverse community filled with talented men and women, surely there is much we have to say to one another in this space. I hoped that there wouldn't be any need to print this at all. I hoped that someone would prove what I have to say here wrong.
I am sad that this article will see the light of day. It seems to me that we have spent a great deal of time and energy demanding and enforcing and cajoling "mainstream" gay and lesbian community to open their doors to people of color, but once the door is open, we aren't quite sure if we want to come in. Accusations of racism, oftimes justified, fly, and charges of deliberate exclusion of African American and Latin people are de rigeur in any mixed gathering of late. There have been some positive results, such as this column.
But, I'm really concerned about what it's saying about my brothers and sisters that once we have a column, once we have the ear of community organizations, once we have brothers and sisters in positions of decision-making authority, we fail to follow Until 1992, Peace, God Bless, and Happy through. We don't write columns. We assume Holidays! that someone else will tell the Center about the needs of our communities. We don't want
Dykes To Watch Out For
LONG DONG JUSTICE
122
OUR GALT
AT
MADWIMMIN BOOKS ARE REELING WITH POST THOMAS CONFIRMATION STUPEFACTION!
P.S. Please, don't drink and drive▼
THE HEARINGS GOT THE MEDIA TO EXPLORE SOME COMPLEX ISSUES AROUND RACE, GENDER, AND THE WHITE MALE POWER STRUCTURE. IN THE LONG RUN, IT WAS A STEP FORWARD FOR WOMEN.
BULLSHIT! THERES NOTHING GOOD ABOUT IT! THE BOYS WON! THEY PIT THEIR BIGGEST ENEMIES, THE BLACK COMMUNITY AND THE FEMINISTS, AGAINST EACH OTHER, THEY GET A BLACK JUSTICE WHOLL VOTE TO ABOLISH CIVIL RIGHTS, THEY GIVE A TACIT NOD OF APPROVAL TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT, AND THEY'LL REPEAL ROE V.WADE IN THE BARGAIN! YOU GOTTA ADMIRE THEIR TECHNIQUE!
NI/
CAUTION
IBXKS
YEAH. IT WAS THE PERFECT SET-UP. THE SENATE DECIDED IT'S BETTER TO LOOK SEXIST BY DISCOUNTING HILL THAN RACIST BY REJECTING THOMAS, SO WOMEN TOOK THE FALL. AND BLACK WOMEN ARE ON THE BOTTOM OF THE PILE, AS USUAL.
IT COULD BE A
WATERSHED IN AMERICAN POLITICS, FORCING THE LEFT TO FINALLY UNITE AGAINST OUR COMMON ENEMIES.
AFTER ALL, THINGS ALWAYS GET WORSE BEFORE THEY GET BETTER.
SO WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO ABOUT IT?!
thanks to him for being a current co-sponsor. At the next meeting, Stonewall-Cleveland will be planning further strategies to get Oakar to sign the bill as a co-sponsor. The meeting will be held Monday, December 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Lesbian-Gay Community Service Center, 1418 W. 29th St., in Cleveland. We are inviting Ms. Oakar to the meeting in order to address the issue of her reluctance to sign onto the bill. The meeting is open to the entire gay and lesbian community and we encourage you to attend and participate.
New Members. Our membership continues to climb. Our goal is to add 400 new members by January 1, 1993 which would put our membership at 1,000. If you would like to become a member of Stonewall-Cleveland, call Keith Sutton at 281-9205, or Mike Radice at 651-4439. Membership meetings are held the second Monday of every month at 7:30 p.m. at the Lesbian-Gay Community Service Center.
Election of Officers and Board Members. At our October meeting the following officers were elected: Mike Radice, President, Keith Sutton, Vice President; Bob Reynolds, Treasurer, John Lauro, Clerk; and Al Trethewey, Volunteer/Membership Coordinator. Newly-elected board members included: Lisa Nussbaum, Steve Sharrock, John Nolan, and Tim Leiden. The elections increased the board size from 10 to 14, in recognition of the need to increase the number of activists in order to advance our civil rights agenda.▼
the responsibility of a seat on a board, and can only find things to criticize about the brothers and sisters who do.
I know that there are reasons for this. We haven't had the luxury of time or the safety of space of our own to build a cohesive community. I know that we live at the intersection of racism, classism, sexism and homophobia, and it is a wonder that we are here at all. I know that for some of us coming out means losing the only community of support we have ever known, and that there is precious little with which to replace it. I know the particular toll that alcohol, drugs and violence take on our lives. When simple survival becomes a full-time job, there is precious little left over with which to build a community. I know that we are mostly tired. Still, I challenge you.
KEEP DOING WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING. CONFRONT HARASSERS. PICKET. BOYCOTT. DO ANTI-RACISM WORK. FUND WOMEN CANDIDATES...
I challenge you to self-determination: to identifying our own needs, and pursuing our won solutions, instead of letting others decide who we are and what we need. I challenge you to complain loudly, and in writingright here in this space. I challenge you to show up at the next community meeting about a subject you've discussed on the phone with a friend, but have never done anything about yourself because you always thought of it as "their" organization. I challenge you to show up clean and sober instead of bitching about "those drunks." I challenge you for whom coming out is not an option to write a check, even for just a few dollars, and send it to an organization whose work you admire. I challenge you to shut me up.
I challenge you to prove me wrong.
HEY,
YOU THOUGHT
...GETA SEX
CHANGE OPERATION.
JOIN THE G.O.P.
LO-
ABOUT IT FOR
15!
A SPLIT SECOND
THERE, DIDN'T
YOU?
The
TIPS
ON
JON OF
FEGROB