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LE'S CHRONICLE

An Independent Chronicle of the Ohio Lesbian and Gay Community

CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRANT SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPT. PERIODICAL

Volume 9, Issue 4 August 20, 1993

Brazilian wins

U.S. asylum from anti-gay persecution

San Francisco-A gay Brazilian man who has won political asylum in the U.S. has paved the way for other foreign gays fearing persecution, his attorney said.

"Now that lesbians and gay men have been legally recognized as a bona fide social group, persecuted members of our communities worldwide who meet the criteria for asylum should receive the same protection as other persecuted groups," said attorney Tania Alvarez.

At least 24 other cases involving gays and lesbians from as far away as Guatemala, Iran and Hong Kong are working their way through the immigration system, Alvarez said.

Administrative Law Judge Philip Leadbetter on July 26 granted San Francisco resident Marcelo Tenorio political asylum. That gives him the right to apply for permanent residence after a year.

Leadbetter ruled that gays qualify as a "social group," one of five classifications allowed asylum under the Refugee Act of 1980. The other four are members of persecuted races, religions, nationalities, and holders of political opinions.

Immigration and Naturalization Service District Director David Ilchert said August 3 that his office may file an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals in Washington. He expects to make a decision within a week.

Tenorio came to the U.S. in 1990, eight years after he was stabbed and badly beaten outside a Rio de Janeiro gay disco. Fearing for his life, he fled to Mexico and crossed the U.S. border illegally from there.

INS authorities arrested him last year and began deportation proceedings.

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission says 1,200 gay men and women have been murdered in Brazil within the past 10 years. They say police not only fail to stop the killings, but also take part. It was information provided by the IGLHRC to U.S. officials about the poor status of gays in Brazil that was important in Tenorio's defense. The U.S. State Department's subsequent advisory about human rights was also a key defensive tool.

The IGLHRC plans to ask Attorney General Janet Reno to rule the Tenorio case a precedent to be used as an example for others, a move that would help gays throughout Latin America, the Middle East and Asia, where persecution and death are constant threats to their daily life.

"I came illegally to this country because I wanted to be free to live my life like I wanted it to be," Tenario said. "For me, the United States is where you have the right to be free."

N.Y. serial killer brings attention to gaybashing

New York-For gay men in New York, street violence is always a lurking threat.

So the news that a serial murderer may be stalking middle-aged men in gay bars, hacking them up and dumping their dismembered bodies, is provoking worry rather than terror.

Still, activists are using the publicity surrounding the dismemberment deaths to push for greater police protection-and self-protection within the gay community.

Even by the standards of hardened New Yorkers, the murders are gruesome.

Michael Sakara, 56, had last been seen at the Five Oaks, a Greenwich Village piano bar. His body was found July 31 forty miles away. Police have tentatively linked his death to the murders of several other gay or bisexual men over the last two years.

Two victims, Thomas Mulcahy, 57, and Peter Anderson, 54, were last seen at the Townhouse, a gay bar and restaurant on the East Side of Manhattan. Anthony Morrero, 44, was seen in various gay bars before he disappeared. Guillermo Mendez, 50, was not seen in a bar and has the weakest connection to the other victims. All the men were dismembered, their body parts found in plastic bags around the metropolitan area.

For many New Yorkers, the suggestion that someone was stalked at the Five Oaks is particularly shocking.

The low-ceilinged, oak-walled bar is a Village institution; pianist Marie Blake, a 40-year veteran performer, evokes the Billie Holiday era as she accompanies professional and amateur singers alike.

The bar is not known as a place to cruise;

nor was Sakara the type to leave with a stranger, manager John Kendrick said.

Matt Foreman, executive director of the city's Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project, said police response to the dismemContinued on Page 4

New director confronts racism and turnover

by Kevin Beaney

Judy Rainbrook has a full agenda. Installed as the third executive director of Cleveland's Lesbian-Gay Community Service Center in late July, she is on a steep learning curve, trying to familiarize herself with the job as the Center continues to cope with turnover of its modest staff. And lately, one of its board members has been pressing charges of racial insensitivity and failure to accommodate the African-American gay community.

Rainbrook assumed her new post with the sense of familiarity that comes with experience-she served in the past as the Center's board president and started the Garden Party as an annual fund raiser.

She also has her marching orders. Unlike other cities' pro-active centers, Rainbrook said, "The message I'm getting from the board is not to be out in front on the political edge, but to be more of a service organization."

In an interview with the Chronicle she detailed some of her concerns, needs, and plans for the Center's future.

One of the most urgent needs is additional staff. The director of services position, held for 41⁄2 years by Aubrey Wertheim, has remained unfilled since March of this year. There was a deliberate decision to allow the new executive director to choose Continued on Page 4

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