GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE MARCH 19, 1993

Second Annual

Benefit Auction

Saturday, April 10th Featuring Evelyn Hayes

Auctioneer Extraordinaire

Hundreds of Great Buys including: Autographed Movie Poster Donated By

Whoopi Goldberg

Plus

Many Restaurant Certificates; Cleveland Playhouse, Cleveland Public Theater, Cleveland Orchestra, Dobama Passes; Art Work, Photography, Crafts; Raku Pottery; Theme Park Tickets; Golf Passes; Personal Care Packages; Jewelry Home Improvement Packages And Much Much More.....

Free Admission .. Free Food Free Gift To The First 50 Guests

Master Card & Visa Accepted

4 To 6 PM At The

West Shore Unitarian Universalist

Church

20401 Hilliard in Rocky River

Proceeds To Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Lorain County Call (800) 447-7163 For Info

CLEVELAND PUBLIC THEATRE

PRESENTS

FRANK GREEN

"The victim who is able to articulate

the situation of the victim has ceased

to become a victim; he, or she, has become a threat."

----James Baldwin

THE SCARLET LETTERS

CPT presents the premier of "The Scarlet Letters" by performance artist Frank Green.

This multi-media event explodes myths about HIV/AIDS.

March 18-21 at 8 p.m. Tkts. $8. reg., $5. students & srs. For reservations call 631-2727

6415 Detroit Ave. at W. 65th St.

MARCH 18-21

631-2727

Robertson to resign

Continued from Page 1

goal is to share PRYSM's experience with other less established gay and lesbian youth service programs.

PRYSM (Presence and Respect for Youth in Sexual Minorities) was one of the earliest Center programs started by Wertheim, and is the one with which he most closely allies. With Wertheim moving to the new position, candidates are being interviewed for the director of services slot which remains open at this time.

The Center board is in the process of designating a search committee and determining whether the search for a replace-

ment executive director will be regional or national in scope. The board was able to hire Robertson when a two-year $83,000 grant was awarded by the Cleveland Foundation in 1990. Those grant monies recently ran out and the Center has been working to cover the salary expense with donations and fund raising events.

The previous executive director, David Cordova, was fired by the board in November 1989 after not being able to "establish a mutually satisfactory working relationship." From that time until Robertson's hiring, the Center functioned with Noll serving as an unpaid acting executive di-

rector.

An open letter to the lesbiangay community of Cleveland

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

It is with careful consideration and reflection that I resign as executive director of the Lesbian-Gay Community Service Center.I will be leaving this summer to pursue a master's degree in social work. This has been the hardest job I ever loved. I have improved my counseling skills as well as my financial and budgeting skills.

I am a better fund raiser, negotiator, problem-solver, and public speaker than I was two years ago. And I've met the lesbian and gay communities. The youth, older, religious, HIV-challenged, feminists, separatists, the drag queens, the SM and leather enthusiasts, the physically and mentally challenged, the gays and lesbians of ethnicity and color, the working class, the middle class, and the wealthy. You have carved a place in this community; and the Center, under my leadership, has provided you with extraordinary services and activities to help empower and fight the daily homophobia we experience as an oppressed group.

I am proud of that. You should be too.I had never been an executive director before so I knew taking this job was a test. What I have discovered is the following: My strengths lie in my interpersonal communication,

administration, and supervisory skills. I facilitated the growth and development of the Center staff through internal processes such as personnel policies, revised job descriptions, schedules, timesheets, regular staff meetings, performance evaluations, and on-going supervision. Additionally, the financial process has improved with the hiring of an accountant firm to handle our monthly and yearly finances. The Center is more productive and efficient than it was two years ago. My strength lies in the ability to help facilitate growth and change. When a board, staff or volunteer member had ideas or projects, I helped analyze the pros and cons and then we accomplished it. Some examples are the Youth Conference, the Talent Show, the Renovation, Positive Opportunities Conference for PWAS, Candidates Night, a panel on Separatism, a new parents and siblings HIV support group, the hosting of the Adolescent Consortium at the Center as well as our in-your-face activism: the WMJI protest, the attention to the Aaron Kittle suicide, and most recently, the lifting of the military ban.

My strength lies in building bridges. I was accessible, in particular with the feminist communities. I hired feminists. I talked and walked feminism along with many of the board, staff and volunteers. I am a role model to the community, whether you saw me on stage at the Variety Show, or watched me on the Morning Exchange or talked to me in person about your isolation as a lesbian school teacher. I was out, loud, and proud. My strength lies in my ability to take risks.The first year I was here, several organizations were involved in an antiracism forum. It was a painful, bumpy ride for me but I was involved, and so was the board president. The Center participated. The forum stopped meeting, but the work

has not.

The Center board and staff include people of color as well as lesbians. Additionally, all our programs, except the Women's Coffeehouse and Men In Touch have men and women involved. Last year, the board identified the need to reach more lesbians, gays and lesbians of color, the older, and the deaf communities in the next three years. I anticipate a Diversity Awareness retreat for the Board this spring. Additionally, we are hoping to establish a black gay men's support group and a Women In Touch Program, similar to our Men In Touch Program, within the year. Lastly, my strength lies in my courage to leave the Center when it seems like I just arrived. The Center needs an executive director with similar abilities as I have--interpersonal communication skills, flexibility, supervisory talents, and of course, a commitment and understanding of lesbian-gay liberation. But this person also needs a background in fundraising and financial management. I helped find the people who were good at money and numbers, but it has never been my greatest strength.

Our organizations must remain strong financially, emotionally, and spiritually if we are to fight the religious and conservative Right. A stronger foundation has been set for the new person to lead the Center through this decade, and beyond. I have faith we can find such a person. My hopes and dreams for you are that you will find it within yourself to come out as a lesbian or gay man. Tell your mother or your father. Tell your employer or your doctor. They will never be able to say they do not know one of us again.If you have come out, rejoice and congratulate yourself. You are washing away the shame.Go to Washington, D.C. on April 25. Go even if you're not

out.

Go even if you are afraid. As Audre Lorde said, "Your silence will not protect you."

Volunteer at the Center. We cannot do our work without you. And we need more of you. Today. Call us.Donate money. It costs $600 a day to keep the Center open. If every community member gave us $10 a year we'd have the Center of your dreams. (There are over 200,000 of us.)Apply for my position. Try it on for size. See if it fits.

Explore the boundaries of your skills and abilities. We need more queer professionals. In closing, I want to thank the board, staff and volunteers at the Center for their commitment to our movement, and to me. I could not do this work without Bob Laycock, or Dolores Noll, or Peggi Cella, or Nick Palumbo, and especially without Aubrey Wertheim or Christine Hann, Kyle Rose or Jalal Naeem. As well as the many of you over the years who have given of your time and talents. Thank you. My promise to you is that I will stay involved in Cleveland lesbian and gay liberation. I will continue to volunteer my time, and my money to keep our movement strong. It's a simple matter of justice. Respectfully and with Pride,

Leigh A. Robertson