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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE NOVEMBER 12, 1993

Center's losses and change are part of housecleaning

Continued from Page 1

look at the Center's location. Rainbrook says efforts at expanding its present facility are possible, as are possibilities for "adjunct" sites elsewhere in the city. "Maybe we need to expand the Center to other physical areas. Let's not assume that we need to do everything from this space."

Realizing there has been "an inability to manage the internal system," reorganizing the database has been a major focus for Rainbrook. Because individuals are the key source of Center funding, and expanding that donor base will be critical to new programs, an effective database bears obvious importance. The Center has long been unable to effectively track and solicit privately donated monies. The recent addition of a

new computer will be a big help in that direction.

But there can be no Center without people. Beyond addressing the nuts and bolts that run any community service, the Center has recently begun efforts at confronting its own internalized racism and sexism. Toward the issue of sexism, Rainbrook has met with east-side lesbians in dialogue and will continue the process. West-side response to her efforts has not been as forthcoming, causing her to jokingly wonder "are there any west-side lesbians?" The Center's staff bears a more balanced female presence as well, resulting from a morewidely advertised and re-evaluated interview process that sought candidates who "have an experience with diversity, have an understanding of the issue of racism and

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have done some work with anti-racism and sexism." Rainbrook says that she is "seeing more and more women coming through the Center's doors. I've just heard from two women of color who are interested in starting an AA group for lesbians," a welcome sign of new life.

Ending racism and reaching out to people who have felt locked out of the Center's consciousness will require more work. But the board seems in agreement that there is a problem and it must be addressed if the Center hopes to unite Cleveland's racial and ethnic communities under the one rubric "gay."

"I feel like it was a real struggle at first," says board member Peggi Cella, a woman of color who has spent years trying to get racism out and onto the table for board discussion. "But these people are working real hard. They have accepted that it is within them and that they are part of the problem. Most of these people do want the Center to be an inclusive place. We have made progress, but there's still a lot of work to do."

"I've had lots of opportunity over the last three months to see what the problem is," says Bill Tregóning. "I think that we will be able to continue with our work around inclusivity. I'm concerned that we don't look for this to arrive in a neatly wrapped package, that there is no time frame. This is part of a process. I don't think that the board is broken. We have come closer together in terms of a shared vision."

Board member Tom Isabel agrees. "Things are clearer to me now. We should be working towards improving and being aware of the racial inequities. The remaining board members are a cohesive group. We can work together on this." [Attempts were made by the Chronicle to contact all board members. Not all were available for comment before press time.]

What's the next step for both the Center and its board? Board elections have been

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concentrate their energies on matters of racism and sexism. Until then the board will meet twice a month instead of the usual monthly meeting.

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much about the outcome."

Efforts will eventually be made at creating parity among board members, maybe, says Cella, creating seats just for people of color and women, and leaving them empty until they can be filled.

Organ also says there is a need to "rearticulate the bylaws and the board's mission" in realization that organizational structure can be used to maintain racism and ignore change..

The Center has also begun to incorporate the concerns of women and people of color more fully into already established programs. Hotline staffers will receive training that embraces the needs of these people, ranging from which bars are woman and color friendly, to, say, tougher specific questions about coming out within the black community. The Maryann Finegan project has also received training that will ensure

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that people of color who are victims of crime are equally represented

Rainbrook plans to make the Center available as a place with hard, material resources for those community groups that need such support, such as the Center's assistance in the mailing chores for SOAR's recent antiracism seminar. Groups who need the use of a computer or phone, or even a mailing address will find the Center eager to help. There will also be efforts at establishing a regular newsletter that will keep the community informed and linked to Center happenings.

The issue of funding and member support eventually comes into play. Does the Center have the support of its members, and can it proceed with a new focus without risking established funding? At the annual membership meeting in October the board received overwhelming support in a vote of 60-3 for its decision to postpone elections and focus on racism.

"I don't see any significant threat to our donor base," says Rainbrook. "We have lost one major donor, maybe we will lose a few others. But I hope that our work will in turn bring in new people who will see that the Center is a place that is worthy of their donations. We're not panicking, just a little nervous. But we're reasonably secure at this moment."

The board will continue to emphasize special events as a viable avenue of funding, with an upcoming unnamed low-key event in December and a joint effort with DanceCleveland in January.

"Yes, of course they do need to be concerned about funding," says Cella. "But that's not it. Nobody's coming up with new and radical strategies. If the Center is out there and doing its work as a leader, the money will come."

A veteran of several boards in a variety of settings, Tregoning sees the potential for worry. "There are three approaches to being a board member, with time, talent, or treasure. For those people who may limit their support to a check, doing less work on the front line may make them unable to see the problem directly. Yes, I am concerned. We are not flush. It would not be the first time an agency has been driven under by doing the right thing."

What is the Center doing as a leader within the local gay community? With the recent overturn of pro-gay legislation in Cincinnati, there is much concern that the community must get its homework done in order to fight the looming rightist battles.

Part of Rainbrook's mission is to create a more pro-active Center. "The Center has been invisible, it hasn't taken a leadership role within the community of service organizations,” she says. “There are different ways to be pro-active. You don't have to be an ACT UP or like Stonewall. I want to see it at a point where it will be hard to be in the community and not know that there is a lesbian and gay center."

Cella, Organ and Rainbrook will be in attendance at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force "Creating Change Conference" in early November in Durham, N.C. Their focus will include seminars on racism and strategy planning for winning political campaigns. There is a horrified realization that the right wing is using issues of race and fear in driving wedges between liberal communities and thereby winning destructive campaigns against gays.

Rainbrook makes it clear that "the Center is not being pushed around by people of color. If we can't make alliances with gay and lesbian people of color, then we won't be able to effectively fight the right wing. And people of color will never be out enough if they are too afraid to risk losing their families if there is no gay family."

Fighting the right is the big battle for Cella as well. "I really need to spend some time organizing and coalescing within my own community," she says. "We need men and women to work together on this but it can't happen if we have all these things working to keep u us apart. Only then will the Center be a real center." ✓