STONEWAL

CLEVELAND

by Keith Sutton

Acting President

A lesbian, gay political organization of Northeastern Ohio

If you missed this year's Stonewall Annual Pride Dinner on June 13, make sure you don't next year! It was, without a doubt, an unqualified success. With nearly 400 in attendance, 15 of whom were political officials, it rang in a new era for gay political support and participation in Cleveland.

When I arrived at the Gold Room of the Stouffer Hotel and opened the door to see just how many tables it took to seat everyone, my heart leaped in both joy and fear. Joy, because the event had truly grown to a size beyond my expectations. And fear, because I knew I was going to have to speak in front of everyone.

Then people began to arrive. Soon the outer lobby was packed with men in suits and designer ties and women in fashionable skirts, dresses and blazers. It was a sight to behold. There were so many familiar faces, yet many I've never seen at other functions. I repeatedly heard people saying they saw people who they hadn't seen in years.

Ohio Attorney General Lee Fisher presented Stonewall Cleveland with a Certificate of Recognition for the advancement of civil rights. On a personal note, he spoke of his private and painful experience of having a family member who is living with AIDS. He knows that many of us share this same experience. And he announced his commitment to adding sexual orientation to Ohio's hate crimes legislation. It was he and Cleveland Mayor Michael White who originally wrote Ohio's "ethnic intimidation" laws, which were judged unconstitutional last year. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld similar legislation as constitutional, he feels the Ohio Supreme Court will soon reverse its original judgment

I suggest you write and call his office, as well as Mayor White's, and petition each of them to include sexual orientation in our state and city legislation. Now. This year!

Tim McFeeley, our keynote speaker, reported current events on the national level, forecast where he sees our community headed, and passionately challenged

us to turn our focus outward to the heterosexual community. He concludes that our community expends far too much energy confronting one another to be politically

correct than confronting the more productive aim of enlightening our straight families, friends and coworkers.

Of immediate concern, McFeeley forewarned that a decision regarding gays in the military could be announced within the next few days, far ahead of the original July 15 deadline. If so, the right wing will flood the mail and tie up the phones. Each of us must contact all our officials on a regular basis, but especially Senator John Glenn and U.S. Representative from Ohio Tom Sawyer, both on the congressional armed services committees. Contact them repeatedly, beginning today!

Also in attendance were Cleveland City Council President Jay Westbrook, several council people, state representatives, judges, and Sam Thomas III, executive director of the Community Relations Board. Also at the head table were Rhonda Rivera, keynote speaker last year; Jane Daroff, president of P-FLAG; and Steve Shellabarger, co-founder of the Victory Fund.

I know I speak for all of the Stonewall members and event organizers when I express our PRIDE for being part of the Cleveland gay, lesbian and bisexual community. We all are taking greater PRIDE in our community and taking greater action to ensure the continued advancement of our EQUAL rights!

And I'm also confident I speak for all Stonewall members as well as many others when I offer my sincerest thanks and congratulations to John Nolan, the chairperson for the Stonewall Pride Dinner. It was largely due to the hard work and personal relationships of John that so many new and influential people attended the festivities. His efforts have assured the continued growth and influence that this event will experience in the years ahead. We thank you, John!

We also just had our second Town Hall meeting on June 21, showing two videos: The Gay Agenda, and our community's counter-video, Hate, Lies and Videotape. We were honored to have Chris Boadt,

regional board member of the Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Veterans of America, speak disclosing his homosexuality. about being discharged from the army after ♡

This space has been provided to Stonewall Cleveland by the Chronicle, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Chronicle staff or management.

Chevrei Tikva Cleveland's Synagogue with an outreach to the Lesbian and Gay community P.O. Box 18120⚫ Cleveland, Ohio 44118 (216) 932-5551

Member of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and the World Congress of Gay and Lesbian Jewish Organizations.

On behalf of those not there

by Paul Zeitzew

I did not go to the March on Washington. A year ago this was my plan, but circumstances did not allow it. I don't have cable, so I did not watch C-SPAN. I figured out how to program my VCR timer to record the six o'clock news for at least a few details, but the station I selected chose to overrun a golf match instead of news. (PMS means Paul Must Suffer!) Therefore, this epistle is really objective.

When I spoke with a friend on Sunday afternoon he said he was watching C-SPAN but felt left out due to his advanced HIV status and marches were too late for him. I felt differently. It was a positive feeling to know all of those people were marching for me since I could not; even for my friend even though he did not agree. It's important to me since, when I came out, a march would mean terrible consequences. Just admitting or even talking to some "queer" could cause many problems. In the ensuing years I have watched the world change in regards to homosexuals. Because people organize Marches on Washington, Pride

Parades down Euclid Avenue-and most important, people attend them in large numbers-I can be free to hold up my head and say, "Yeah, sure, I am a gay man, so what!" If these events did not happen, I and many more would still be in the closet.

Chevrei Tikva is very proud of the numbers from our congregation who took part that weekend. The World Congress of Gay and Lesbian Jews should be proud of the numbers of congregations around the country that were also in attendance.

So, to all of those hundreds of thousands who took a beautiful Washington day and made history, I want to say "thanks" on behalf of myself and all of us who couldn't make it; for all of us who live a better life because you chose to take your time and money and spirit to do something we could not do. My only regret is that there were no gay-lesbian organizations to provide role models for the coming out person 40 years ago. But, you are here now, and so am I. Thanks again.

♡

This space has been provided to Chevrel Tikva by the Chronicle, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Chronicle staff or management.

JUNE 25, 1993 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 15

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