JULY 9, 1993

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 11

ON THE AIR OFF THE PRESS

·

Call and Post's take on lesbians and gays is uncalled for

by John DuAne Graves Although I was told that the Call and Post, Cleveland's African-American newspaper, had not taken an official position on gay rights, the paper has not exactly been objective regarding lesbians, gays and bisexuals in the African-American community. Although it did provide editorial support for lifting the ban on gays in the military, the only mention of gay people has generally been homophobic comment in some of the columns. The Call and Post may have been the only publication in the area that provided no coverage of the PBS presentation of Tongues Untied, Marlon Riggs' acclaimed documentary of the black gay experience. A draft article was written after I provided a tape of Tongues Untied to Call and Post city editor Shelley Schockley, but it was never printed.

The June 5 edition of the Call and Post included a special supplement entitled "Justice or Just Us" that featured a number of articles, reprinted from other AfricanAmerican publications, that detailed harassment of black officials by federal and state prosecutors. The Call and Post chose to include a half-page letter from Andrea Sheldon, daughter of Lou Sheldon, presenting the Traditional Values Coalition's very biased and untrue picture of the March on Washington.

The Call and Post, which has been having financial difficulties, indicated that they had insufficient resources to cover gay issues objectively on its own but would accept items submitted by others. I was certainly glad to see Leslye Maria Huff's response to the position of "The Black Church" in the June 24 edition. Huff's column was followed by letters from other African-

American lesbians, gays and bisexuals published in the July 1 edition.

Make no mistake, as a bisexual AfricanAmerican I know we need both the Chronicle and the Call and Post, however, we need to speak up for ourselves as members of both communities. That is one of the reasons why, as you can see by this column's byline, I have come all the way out here and at the Pride festival by using my entire name. I urge all my brothers and sisters to support and get involved with Silent No More, our new African-American lesbian, gay and bisexual organization. Let's show our straight brothers and sisters that we do exist, we are born the way we are, and that we are a force to be reckoned with. Take action now. No more "passing."

Let the Call and Post know how you feel by calling the paper at 791-7600. By all means write to them at P.O. Box 6237, Cleveland, OH 44101. Their fax number is 791-6568. Perhaps one of us who went to the March could submit an article on what the March was really like to counter Andrea Sheldon's biased report. Copies of the antigay articles that were printed in the Call and Post, as well as our responses, are available for viewing at the Lesbian-Gay Community Service Center and Gifts of Athena.

Beth A., a lesbian, is one of the real people living together on the second edition of Real World on the MTV channel at various times during the week, check your cable listings for airtimes.

TV Guide reports that HBO optioned the rights to Randy Shilt's new bestseller Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the U.S. Military. TV Guide also reports that CBS' Picket Fences was identified as the

most "liberally biased" show on TV last season by right-wing publisher Brent Bozell. Dinosaurs, Northern Exposure, Melrose Place, Murphy Brown, Captain Planet and the Planeteers, L.A. Law, and the Arsenio Hall Show were runners up on Bozell's list. Bozell claims that the television industry, through the shows cited, is "unabashedly abusing the airwaves to indoctrinate America" with liberal positions on homosexuality, feminism and environmentalism.

Newsweek featured an extensive report on lesbians in America in its June 21 edition.

Straight talk about gays on the cover of the July 5 U.S. News and World Report announced three articles on gays in America covering eight pages in the magazine's Science and Society section. Included was a poll of 1,000 registered voters on their attitudes towards gays that also differentiates between the attitudes of respondents that were personally acquainted with gay people and those who had never met a gay person. The May edition of the National Educa-

tion Association publication NEA Today reported that three social studies teachers in Meridian, Idaho, were asked by their students to invite three lesbian parents to speak to the classes so that they could hear all sides on gay issues. Of the 90 students in the classes, only three did not attend because they felt uncomfortable about the subject and the speakers.

Even though a conservative minister had been asked to present the opposite point of view the following week, the teachers were suspended after the presentation by the three lesbians. At first the school board offered to lift the suspension but only if the teachers formally apologized to the parents of the students and accepted a written reprimand. The teachers won their case without having to accept the school board terms but reportedly are now afraid to even discuss Martin Luther King Day in class.

Waldenbooks in the Old Arcade featured a window display honoring lesbian, gay and bisexual Pride month.

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