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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

July 17, 1992

Fundamentalist State Fair manager stalls gay booth

by Kevin Beaney

Considerable controversy surrounds the Ohio State Fair this year, thanks to the decisions being made by new general manager Billy Inmon. Commercially, his attempts to switch soft drink vendors through contract cancellations have created caustic comments. Of interest to gay men and lesbians, he has attempted to deny a booth at the Fair to Stonewall Union, a Columbus gay organization which has had a booth there for the past 14 years.

Relying on that old standby, the Bible, Inmon stood on religious interpretation. According to Phyllis Gorman, executive director of Stonewall Union, Inmon "told us that his authority to speak on the issue of homosexuality had come from God," during a meeting the gay and lesbian advocacy group had with the general manager. Inmon is quoted as saying, "I have very deep convictions, and I think those convictions affect my decisions."

The Ohio State Fair is the nation's largest, attracting about 3.5 million visitors to

seeking a ruling from the prosecutor whether the material meets the legal description of pornography or is otherwise harmful to juveniles. The material in question was copies of Gaybeat, a Columbus-based monthly gay newspaper.

Similar letters have also been sent to the Fair's general manager; "hundreds," according to Inmon. A letter signed by the executive director of the Jefferson County American Family Association (AFA), Jack Giles, states, "It has just recently come to my attention that the homosexual advocacy group, the Stonewall Union, have been actively recruiting Ohio's young citizens at the state fair. While these deviants may enjoy equal access and free speech rights to promote themselves and their chosen lifestyles, they do no have the right to pander or impose their immorality upon our youth." The AFA is a national fundamentalist group based in Mississippi.

This letter was sent to at least Inmon and Gov. Voinovich. Other chapters of AFA who are sending letters to various state officials include Licking County and Central Ohio.

Inmon has told the Columbus Dispatch that he is not a member of the AFA and recognizes Stonewall's legal right to be present at the Fair. He feels the problem would be solved if the group's literature distribution would be restricted to adults.

However, as of mid-July, Stonewall Union is still waiting to receive its application from the Ohio Expositions Commission, which was promised after a committee was formed to investigate the literature proposed for distribution.

At the booth, Stonewall Union does not hand out literature to passersby, but makes it available on a table. The information, mostly pamphlets with some periodicals, is provided by lesbian and gay organizations

across the state. The booth is staffed by volunteers from throughout the state.

The Stonewall Union executive committee met recently and reaffirmed its distribution policy. According to Ed Pfeiffer, Stonewall Union president, "We will not restrict fair booth materials to people over the age of 21. We see that as a disservice to gay and lesbian youth, who because of the societal attitude towards homosexuality, are three times more likely to commit suicide then their heterosexual peers. [U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services study, Report of the Task Force on Teenage Suicide, 1989]. We will have the material available at this year's fair booth reviewed by Stonewall legal counsel, in regard to the laws about materials harmful to juveniles. This legislation does have an exemption for educational material, and most of what is available at the fair booth may come under that definition."

the Columbus fairgrounds from August 7 to Toledo Cracker Barrel protest set for July 26

23. Inmon was appointed to the $60,000 a year general manager post in January by "good friend" Gov. George Voinovich. He has previously made a name for himself by trying to remove "demonic and satanic" textbooks from the Willard public schools.

Fundies claim pornography

The Columbus group is also weathering a storm from fundamentalists who have staged a campaign condemning distribution of 'pornography' to juveniles during the Fair. A number of letters complaining about Stonewall Union and the alleged pornographic material it distributed in the past were sent to the State Highway Patrol, which polices the Fair. The Patrol is now

Led by the Toledo chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), an "informational picket" has been scheduled at the Cracker Barrel restaurant in the Toledo suburb of Perrysburg, for Sunday, July 26, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The organizers are inviting all northwest Ohioans who are concerned about Cracker Barrel's employment policies as they try to cater to what they describe as the "traditional American Sunday-dinner crowd."

Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores, a Tennessee-based nationwide chain of restaurants, drew fire in 1991 when it adopted a policy of dismissing employees who did not uphold what the policy described as

"normal heterosexual family values." The policy resulted in the firing of a number of gay and lesbian employees. After many protests, which recieved much mainstream media attention, the company said it had rescinded the policy. However, none of the fired workers have been rehired, and the protests continue.

Volunteers have already checked out access roads, local ordinances, parking availability, and traffic patterns at the Perrysburg site, located 15 miles from downtown Toledo. The picket is intended to raise awareness to neighbors, local media, and elected officials who need to know that citizens will not stand for the type of dis-

crimination which Cracker Barrel practices.

Currently, residents of Ohio lack any form of legal redress if they are fired by an employer, such as Cracker Barrel, for having a sexuality which is not in concert with "traditional family values."

Perrysburg's Cracker Barrel is located on a street which is one block away from the Southeast corner of Interstate 75 and U.S. Route 20. Get offI-75 at exit 193, taking the Southbound turn for Route #20 (heading towards Fremont). Assemble at the parking lot of the defunct Frisch's Big Boy starting at 9:30 a.m. For more information, phone Toledo NOW at 419-475-4817.

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