に

gay people's

Cleveland, Ohio

Canadian forces now open to gays

by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.

Ottawa--The Federal Court of Canada has struck down the Canadian military's policy against employing or promoting homosexuals, ruling that it violates the country's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The ruling came after government prosecutors told the court that they would not contest an action brought by a lesbian woman dismissed from the Canadian air force.

"The Canadian Forces will comply fully with the federal court's decision." said

President-elect Clinton says he will end the military's gay ban. Page 4

Gen. John de Chastelain, the chief of the defense staff and Canada's most senior military official. "Canadians, regardless of their sexual orientation, will now be able to serve their country in the Canadian Forces without restriction." The policy change is effective immediately, he added.

The October 27 court ruling followed a constitutional challenge by Michelle Douglas, a 28-year-old Ontario woman who three years ago was forced to give up a promising air force career because she is gay.

Following a probe launched by the military in 1988, Douglas was transferred to a less sensitive job, stripped of her top security clearance and in 1989 was recommended for release because of her "admitted homosexual activity."

The federal court handed down its ruling in Toronto on the first day of Douglas's trial after Crown prosecutors advised the defense department that they would not call

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November 20, 1992

Volume 8 Issue 5

Two-steppin'

Presbyterians for Lesbian/Gay Concerns

60 cents

On Newsstands

An Independent Chronicle of the Lesbian & Gay Community

Gerry Wheeler (left, back to camera) of the Cleveland City Country Dancers teaches a group how to do the Texas Two-Step at a country dance night at Forest Hills Church in Cleveland Heights. The Country Dancers have dances at Mix on Sunday nights, and at the Oasis on Tuesdays, as well as Wednesday night classes at the Center.

Showing AIDS sign at Bush rally brings arrest for 2 men

by Patti Harris

The Ohio chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is investigating the removal and arrest of two men protesting the Bush administration's AIDS policy at the BushQuayle rally in Strongsville on October 28. The rally, held at the Strongsville Commons, was part of the last leg of the Bush campaign's effort to win Ohio.

H. Paul Schwitzgebel, 50, minister of the United Church of Christ and his companion, James DeLong, 34, were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct as they moved through the crowd carrying a sign reading "The government has blood on its hands: One AIDS death every 10 minutes." Bush supporters first started surrounding

MCC denied membership in National Council of Churches

Meeting in Cleveland's City Hall, the National Council of Churches general board voted on November 12 to not admit the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) to observer status. The action of the Council board, based on the recommendation of its membership committee, outraged representatives of the largely gay MCC and its supporters.

The 90-81 vote reflected the wide division among the Council, the nationwide church agency, about the acceptance of gays among its 32 denominations. It also sent an insulting message to the 30,000 member MCC, since the church had been turned down previously as a full member, although it has maintained a dialogue with the Council for the past 11 years.

Observer status permits a member to participate in activities but does not accord voting privileges. Other churches admitted

as observers include various Jewish and Muslim agencies and the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Rev. Paul Sherry of the United Church of Christ, which allows ordination of openly gay clergy, spoke in favor of admitting the Metropolitan Community Churches. Other more conservative groups, including several Eastern Orthodox churches, threatened

to quit the Council if the gay-affirming church was admitted. Apparently it was this type of threat, along with the continued assertion that homosexual activity is wrong among many churches, that led to the rejection.

After the vote a demonstration took place where MCC members were joined by supporters, many of whom belonged to conservative churches, and loudly protested the hypocrisy and cowardly thinking of the Council members.

the two men to restrict their movement and prevent the press and others from seeing the signs. Then, overeager supporters physically ripped the sign from DeLong, while one man threatened to "take care of that bozo" amidst taunts of "fag." DeLong began blowing a whistle he wears for protection against gay bashing.

Strongsville police arrived in response to the incident and escorted the men from the rally. Schwitzgebel went limp and was carried out by police, resulting in a charge of resisting arrest.

Colorado

rights laws go down, OK in Oregon

by Lisa Keen

Gays in Denver took to the streets in anger and frustration on election day, shortly after 8:00 p.m. when it became apparent that an anti-gay initiative was going to pass. They took to the streets again Wednesday night.

In Oregon, gays celebrated victory against a similar initiative, both at an election night party and on the following night in a public square at the center of Portland.

But the irony of it all is that in the aftermath of voting this week, the defeated in Colorado were calculating how Tuesday's vote might ultimately be a step toward the ultimate triumph, and the victorious in Oregon were contemplating how the next shoe might drop.

In both cases, the political war continues between people who say gays are seeking "special rights" and gays who say they are seeking "equal rights."

In fact, the war is expanding into new arenas and new states. Activists in Colorado said this week that they will seek a court injunction to stop the anti-gay Amendment No. 2 from being enacted in January so they can challenge its constitutionality in the courts. Spokesperson for popular Colorado resident Martina Navratilova confirmed yesterday that the tennis star has agreed to serve as a party to "the right lawsuit" when filed.

In Oregon, the head of the Oregon Citizens Alliance which failed to get Measure 9 passed there, announced that he would try a new version--modeled after Colorado's Amendment No. 2--at the next opportunity. And back in Colorado, activists say the head of the Colorado for Family Values group which succeeded on Amendment 2 said he would now take Amendment 2 to at

Idaho.

The atmosphere of the rally was tightly controlled, with all pro-Clinton and antiBush signs and buttons confiscated at the entrance. The estimated 25,000 people who attended were also required to pass through least two other states--Washington and metal detectors before entering the rally area, where signs in support of Bush were distributed. Gordon James, a Bush-Quayle advance director acknowledged the campaign's policy to deliberately exclude opponents' signs. "It's our rally. That's the name of the game," he said.

According to Marie Kotos of Cleveland Heights, attending with a group of 20 friends, Bush supporters harassed her group as well. Published statements quoted Kostos as saying, "They pushed us. They hit us. They threatened to take us to jail. Where's the freedom of speech?”

The Ohio chapter of the ACLU is indeed concerned with what appears to be violations of the Bill of Rights' freedom of speech and has asked attorneys Al Cowger

and John Pyle to take the case. The cocounsels will represent both men free of charge.

According to Loretta Mikolaj, ACLU Gay-Lesbian Rights Project director, Schwitzgebel and DeLong "had every right to express their opinions" at the rally and is concerned with the abridgement of free speech. "They were denied their rights, she said.

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Loss may turn to victory

Even though they knew not to trust the polls, gay activists in Colorado seemed stunned when the bad news hit Tuesday night.

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CONTENTS

Echoes from the past.. Gay sailor reinstated. Catastrophic benefits gutted. Tampa loses rights

75 gays & lesbians now in office. 7 Grevatt gets 7.1% of Senate vote 9 GWM, 5,300, (looks younger).. 10 11 First lesbian on city board March demands reduced to 7.. 12 Book reviews .. On the Air

Think about This.. Charlie's Calendar Resource Directory