gay people's

HRONIC

L E

Cleveland, Ohio

February 1, 1992

In the spotlight

Photo by Brian DeWitt

NOCI president Gene Witts (r) accepts the Gay Group of the Year award from Robert Downing at the Chronicle's Community Service Awards on January 19.

Volume 7 Issue 8

$1.00

An Independent Chronicle of the Lesbian & Gay Community

Chronicle halts publication

Gay People's Chronicle publisher Martha Pontoni announced at the Community Service Awards banquet January 19 that the Chronicle will be halting publication with this issue. Citing financial and social conditions which made it almost impossible to meet expenses, Pontoni explained to a tearful crowd that the staff of the Chronicle could go on no longer.

"It was one of the saddest moments of my life," said Pontoni, "The only time I've been this sad was when I learned of my sister's death in car accident."

Under the leadership of Pontoni and copublisher Robert Downing, who left the paper in December, the Chronicle has been seen as a community leader, providing direction and a place of communication for the lesbian and gay community of Cleveland.

The Gay People's Chronicle was first published in February, 1985 by CWRU anthropology professor Charles Callendar.

New Jersey passes gay civil rights law

by Nick Bartolomeo

The New Jersey legislature last month became the sixth state body in the nation to pass anti-gay discrimination legislation. Governor James J. Florio was expected to sign the measure by late January.

The bill, forms of which have been pending in the New Jersey legislature for eight years, was passed January 13 during the last minutes of the legislature's 1991 session. The state senate voted 21 to 0 to approve S-3758, which prohibits sexual orientation discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, public accomodation, and credit or loans. The state assembly, where the legislation originated as Bill A-364, passed the senate version shortly thereafter on a 45 to 7 vote.

"So many people were joyous and elated," said Janet Calkins, co-chair of the New Jersey Lesbian and Gay Coalition's A-634 Task Force. "People in the hallways were in tears, sobbing. It was

especially important for the older members if the community, who have been discriminated against for so many years."

Why the bill, dormant for so long, suddenly sprang to life, was the apparent result of last November's election and a concerted push by gay activists.

"We were looking for an opening" to push for the legislation, said John Gish, co-chair of the broad-based pro-bill group, Campaign to End Discrimination. "It appeared with the emergence of the lame-duck session" of the state legislature.

Circumstance also helped, said Gish, when gay-inclusive hate crimes legislation was approved in 1990, followed by the passage of domestic violence laws that covered same-sex couples the following year. The legal precedents for establishment of gays as a minority deserving protection were set by these pieces of legislation, he said.

In early 1991, the Campaign commissioned a poll to assess the attitudes of

Pride '92, Living Room to have Heidi Chronicles benefit

The Living Room and the Lesbian-Gay Pride Committee are working together on a joint benefit at the Cleveland Play House. A special matinee performance of The Heidi Chronicles, on Sunday, March 8, will raise funds for both the Pride '92 march and festival in June, and the Living Room's programs for people in the HIV spectrum.

Scott Weissman, of the Living Room, approached the Pride Committee in early January with the idea of working together on the project. "We need to have more organizations collaborating," said Weissman, "This helps to bring our community together."

The Pride Committee was eager to join with the Living Room. "It's really good that we are doing this as two out groups; as people in the HIV spectrum and as lesbiangay-bi people," said committee member

Susan Schnur.

The Heidi Chronicles, by Wendy Wasserstein, has won both the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award as Best Play of 1989. Its content includes themes around gay and lesbian issues, AIDS and feminism.

Only the March 8 matinee performance on will benefit the two groups. A special Sunday brunch will precede the performance. Curtain time is 2:00 p.m.

In order to benefit Pride and the Living Room, the tickets must be reserved through the Living Room, not through the Play House. Tickets are $25.00, including the pre-performance brunch. Payment must be made in advance and all tickets will be held at the door.

See the ad in this issue regarding ticket details. For any additional questions call the Center at 522-1999.

New Jersey citizens toward gays. Seventy percent of the respondents answered 'yes' when asked if anti-discrimination laws should include gays, and 83 percent replied that gays deserve equal employment opportunity rights.

"What it did was made us sure of where we were coming from," said Gish. "It gave us a great deal of certainty. While the statistics may not have

Continued on Page 7

When Callendar died of a heart attack in October 1986, the paper ceased publication. Pontoni and Downing revived the paper the following July, and have published monthly since.

Many people in the community have expressed wishes to help the Chronicle start publishing again. “The only way the Chronicle can publish again is if it is properly capitalized." comments Pontoni. The Chronicle was re-started with $600 of capital after Callendar died, and grew to have almost $100,000 in sales for 1991.

"I know that seems like a lot of money, but we started behind, and never could catch up," said Pontoni. "We needed to hire people full-time, instead of using volunteers, and we never had enough money to do that." Pontoni also attributes the burnout of the staff to never being able to buy the proper equipment. "Lack of equipment always made it twice as difficult around here at paste-up time.'

Pontoni credits the August theft of the paper's computers and the recent loss of phone-sex advertising for the financial deficit the Chronicle is in. "We always lived on the edge. We made just enough to pay the bills, so when one small glitch came, we could never recover.'

There will be a meeting February 23. at 7:00 p.m. at the Chronicle offices, of community members who are interested in raising the capital the Chronicle needs to resume publication. Facilitating the meeting will be Brynna Fish.

Subscriptions will be put on hold and honored when the paper begins again. Subscribers will be notified if it is determined that the paper can not restart.▼

Bible in

D.C. judge cites denying gay couple marriage

by Nick Bartolomeo

Citing biblical passages as a basis for his decision, a Washington, D.C. Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a gay male couple seeking a marriage license from the city.

Craig Dean and Patrick Gill, who filed their complaint against the District of Columbia in November 1990 after being denied a marriage license, said they will appeal Judge Shellie Bowers' December 30 ruling. During a January 6 press conference, the couple decried the ruling, saying it thwarted the intentions of the D.C. Council, gutted the anti-discrimination provisions of the D.C. human rights law, and violated the separation of church and state.

"We have been told by a court of little courage, little wisdom, and very little compassion that although the state is happy to take our taxes, it will not recognize us as full citizens, because of who we love," said Gill. "We have been denied the most basic right that a person has: the right to love."

The D.C. marriage code makes scant reference to marriage as an institution only between a female and a male. During the course of the case, Dean and Gill had argued that the use of "gender-neutral" language in the statute implies that same-sex marriages are legal.

The couple also argued that although a 1976 marriage statute overhaul bill containing legalization of same-sex marriages was not adopted, the gender-neutral lan-

guage was inserted into the statute. That insertion, after debate over the bill specifically raised the concern that the language would permit gay couples to marry, demonstrated the council's support for gay marriages, Dean and Gill stated.

But Judge Bowers disagreed. Citing two sections of the code which use the term "husband and wife," and a section that outlaws marriage between certain relatives, Bowers held that the D.C. Council did not intend to support same-sex marriages. In addition, he stated, these provisions "are an implicit legislative recognition that procreation is an integral aspect of the institution of marriage.'

Since gay couples cannot procreate, he wrote, they cannot partake in marriage. Continued on Page 7

CONTENTS

Watch 'liberals' in primaries... 2 Letters....

Hate Crime Update.

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Is Stone's JFK accurate? The gay characters sure aren't

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