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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE November 20, 1992

Editorials

The Gay Nineties have arrived

In this exciting election year, where many of us voted for a winning president for the first time in our lives, there were many winners and losers. Here is our list. If you feel we missed anything, send it to us, and we will publish it.

Winners

We elected a president who, for the first time, openly campaigned for gay and lesbian votes, and who promised executive orders to prohibit discrimination against gay and lesbian federal employees--including members of the armed forces.

We elected a president who not only says the word AIDS but has vowed to make sure the government is actively involved in finding help for those in the HIV spectrum.

tion.

We defeated Oregon's hate legisla-

• We upheld a Portland, Maine antidiscrimination ordinance by a 3 to 2 margin.

The Human Rights Campaign Fund contributed over $718,000 to congressional candidates in the name of lesbians and gays everywhere. Out of 147 candidates they supported, 113 won seats, including our own Eric Fingerhut, Sherrod Brown and John Glenn.

Over $3.2 million lesbianand gayidentified dollars were raised from all over the country to help elect Bill Clinton president.

In Cleveland

Cleveland lesbians and gays gave the biggest fundraising house party in Eric Fingerhut's campaign, raising over $10,000 to help Fingerhut defeat his anti-gay oppo-

nent.

O Cleveland lesbians and gays were,

for

the first time, openly-identified help in the presidential race, hanging over 40,000 door hangers in the Cleveland area the night before the election. (Many thanks to Shelly Craver, assigned to the Cleveland Clinton campaign by the Human Rights Campaign Fund, who helped pull this off.)

When rumors flew that Ohio was among the next targets of the born-again bigots with a Colorado-style "no gay rights" initiative, the Chronicle's phones rang off the hook with offers to help. So far there is little evidence of this, but if it does happen we will be ready.

Losers

Colorado's anti-discrimination laws were overturned by a 53 percent vote, and the religious right does plan to expand its efforts to other states which permit initiatives.

●Tampa, Florida voted to repeal an antidiscrimination ordinance by 3 to 2 margin. The Tampa suburb of Temple Terrace removed itself from the gay-inclusive Hillsborough County human rights ordinance and passed one that specifically excluded gays.

State Rep. Gary Suhadolnik won reelection again. His opponent, Mary Dunning, didn't get much help from our community, but then again she didn't want much help from us--she thought it would hurt rather then help. Homophobia comes in all shapes and sizes. (Suhadolnik's campaign sign was a downward-pointing pink triangle. Makes you wonder if this man is just out of touch, or is baiting us.)

●We lost the voting power of Mary Rose Oakar in the House of Representatives. Her inability to be honest about who she was lost her the confidence of the voters and her seat in Congress.

gay people's

HRONICLE

Vol. 8, Issue 5

Founded by Charles Callender, 1928-1986

Published by KWIR Publications

Publisher:

Martha J. Pontoni Business Manager:

Patti Harris Managing Editor:

Kevin Beaney Production Manager:

Brian De Witt Associate Editor:

Scott C. Hare

Reporters and Writers:

Martha J. Pontoni, Dora Forbes, Marne Harris Kevin Beaney, Timothy Robson.

Artist:

Christine Hahn Sales Manager:

Patti Harris Editorial Board:

Martha J. Pontoni, Patti Harris, Kevin Beaney, Brian De Witt, Scott C. Hare.

The Gay People's Chronicle is dedicated to providing a space in the northeast Ohio lesbian-gay community for all of its members to communicate and be involved with each other. This means that every Chronicle, to the best of its ability, will be equally dedicated to both men's and women's issues, as well as issues that affect the entire community. This balance will provide lesbians and gay men with a forum to air grievances and express joys.

The Gay People's Chronicle is copyrighted under federal law. Any reproduction of its contents is prohibited unless permission is obtained.

Any material submitted for publication will be subject to editing. The Chronicle cannot guarantee return of any such materials unless accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. The Gay People's Chronicle is not responsible for claims made by advertisers. We reserve the right to reject advertising which is unsuitable for our publication.

Members needed for the new team

No, not the new team headed for Washington, but the team that's been bringing you the new and improved Chronicle for the past five months. We hope you've been impressed with the progress. Would you be interested in contributing to our success?

With apologies to Ross, here's the deal: we need a growing number of reporters, researchers, writers and other volunteers. There's a lot of personal satisfaction seeing your name on a printed story, and it's an easy way to get involved with the community. For those who are working on a writing career, it helps with your portfolio. Don't forget it's also a way to make new friends in a friendly, gay-supportive atmosphere, and you don't have to hide who you are when you're on an interview!

Guest Opinion

We wish we could pay our writers, but

our budget won't allow it just yet. Future plans call for that to change. Why not start out now and come grow with us?

Because of a shortage of help, some stories never get started. If you want to "specialize" your interests, we need knowledgeable reporters to cover the women's community, African-American and other "double minority" issues, colleges and bars.

Also on the wish list is a sports editor. The biggest part of the job is checking in regularly with the different gay leagues around town. We're sure some of you do that anyway; how about letting the Chronicle know?

Another section that will be expanding is our entertainment coverage. We know there are plenty of people who love to keep tabs

Our lives today are echoes from the past

by Alexander M. O'Toole, M.A.

More and more we are discovering that the old theories concerning one's sexual orientation are more complex than had been previously held. Today even genetics offers an intriguing theory as to why one is more sexually attracted to the same gender. The expression that one has just popped out of the womb gay is closer to the truth than most people suspect.

In Eastern reincarnation astrology, we hold that the forces that shape one's present personality are deeply rooted in previous lives. Prof. P.T. Parvi, in his book on Hindu theosophy perhaps best summarizes eastern mystical astrology. "A horoscope, if correctly drawn, shows the result of a man's past in his character, tendencies and circumstances." This is especially true for one's sexual orientation, for we carry our libido from one incarnation into the next, just like any other personality idiosyncrasy.

Western religions and philosophies do not embrace the theory of reincarnation, yet a very large percent of the rest of the world's religion's and philosophies hold to some form of this theory that we have lived many times before and will do so in the future. Thus the soul experiences both sides of the 'gender coin', living as a male in one incarnation and then as a female in the next and vice versa. I have found in the many

thousands of reincarnation charts which I have done over the years that a person's femininity or masculinity is directly linked to previous incarnations.

Sometimes many people suffer from what I call 'gender switch syndrome.' This occurs when the soul has lived as one sex and then chances into the opposite gender in their next incarnation. Many of those gender personality characteristics seep through into their present incarnation, thus causing confusion as to just which sex they feel the most comfortable in. Hence, a male who had been a female in the previous incarnation will express and still possess many of those previous female tendencies in his current life. The reverse is also true for a female who had been a male in their prior incarnation and who now is trapped within a male's physical body.

In certain instances when the soul has lived in a certain gender for many, many prior incarnations and now suddenly switches into the opposite sex, there is a profound impact upon the subject's present personality. I recall one client in particular whose reincarnation chart indicated that he had lived as a female in all of his previous incarnations and was now incarcerated within the body of a male. From his earliest recollection he wanted to be a female and cross-dressed every chance he could. For many years he lived in the nightmare world of gender confusion, living often as a trans-

vestite and being told that his lifestyle was not normal. After showing him where in his chart that he had been a female in all of his previous incarnations, he realized that his desires to be a female were perfectly normal. I have also found the reverse to be true as well for many females who have been males in their previous lives and who also suffer from gender identification in their current life.

Even in instances where the person is just sexually attracted to the same sex, this has been a lifestyle of choice for many previous incarnations that has followed them into their present life. Once again this will be dramatically illustrated within the subject's reincarnation astrology chart through certain celestial patterns. A chart is divided into twelve sections or spheres called houses. These houses deal with particular areas of a subject's life and within the fifth, eighth and eleventh houses of a subject's chart, their sexual orientation will be shown. This libido can be traced to prior incarnations showing that we not only carry many personality characteristics with us into our current life, but also our sexual preferences as well. Thus, the phrase that one has just popped out of the womb gay is really true. For we are born with our current sexual lifestyle and should accept this as a very normal and natural phenomenon. Perhaps more normal than the straight world wants to accept.

on all the local happenings; talk to the Chronicle about announcing and covering some of the events.

For all those who have been contacting us, thank you for your continued interest. As a point of clarification, we get frequent submissions from people who want to write opinion pieces or columns. With all due respect, we need to concentrate on news first. There's the "Guest Opinion" section for various viewpoints. Whenever we grow to where we can have room for a regular opinion column, we'll reconsider.

You'll find the Gay People's Chronicle will continue to be your most important resource for news that affects lesbians and gay men throughout northern Ohio. Tell your friends, and stay with the winning

team.

Not only do we carry our sexual orientation from one incarnation into the next, but also past romantic relationships. In the many chart comparisons for gay couples that I have done, I have seen this pattern that they had been romantically linked in some previous incarnation and have chosen to be born at the same period to carry on the relationship once again. We in eastern mystical astrology hold that it is not the planets or stars which influence the subject, but rather only reflect all that the soul has been before. It is this soul which has chosen the precise time, location and date of birth that would allow the various celestial objects to be arranged into patterns and astrological signs that would reflect all of the soul's prior experiences and lifestyles.

For those of us who are attracted to a different lifestyle other than what collective society says is 'normal', we should have the profound satisfaction in knowing that this is what we have done before in our previous lives. That these desires are just as normal as any other personality trait which we are expressing. Thus all the stigmas which society wants to place upon those who march to a different drummer's tune, are washed away when we view our current lifestyle as just another day in the 'life' of the soul's many, many incarnations upon this earth plane.