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GAYEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

An Independent Chronicle of the Ohio Lesbian and Gay Community

Volume 9, Issue 13 December 24, 1993

Amendment 2 ruled unconstitutional

Denver-Gay rights attorneys December 14 applauded a district judge's ruling that declared Amendment 2 unconstitutional, and said it warns anti-rights advocates not to tread on the civil rights of gays.

Mary Celeste, an attorney for the anti-Amendment 2 side, said the ruling puts other cities and states where similar laws are pending on notice that "they'd better be careful not to step on the toes of fundamental rights."

Eight states have similar initiatives pending that would prohibit passage of laws protecting gays. Religious right groups have said they will attempt to get one on the November 1994 ballot in Ohio.

"We believe we presented the best evidence possible at trial, and Judge Bayless and the Colorado Supreme Court will be upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court justices," said Celeste.

Boulder City Attorney Joe de Raismes III said, "I think we are elated that he decided the case our way and granted the permanent injunction. We all know the case is not going to end here."

Assistant Colorado Attorney Tim Tymkovich said the state likely will appeal the decision to the Colorado Supreme Court.

Both sides have predicted that the case eventually will end up at the U.S. Supreme Court level.

In a 17-page decision issued without comment, Denver District Judge Jeffrey Bayless said Amendment 2 is unconstitutional because it violates "the fundamental right of an identifiable group to participate in the political process without being supported by a compelling state interest."

In defending Amendment 2, the state attempted to show there were six compelling state interests that justified the initiative. Bayless rejected four, including a claim that "there is militant gay aggression in this state which endangers the state's political functions.”

He also said the evidence did not persuade him that without Amendment 2, gays would be able to lay claim to special protection now afforded minorities, as Amendment 2's supporters said.

The judge said only two compelling interests-promotion of religious freedom and family privacy were supported by evidence. But Bayless said Amendment 2 wasn't sufficiently narrow to achieve those ends without violating gays' constitutional rights.

However, Bayless also said gays Continued on Page 6

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FRESS

KEVIN BEANEY

tains Tower City holiday shoppers December 12, the day

Lesbian retreat under fire

Ovett, Miss.-The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force asked the government December 8 to help protect a feminist educational retreat run by two lesbians in rural Mississippi.

Attorney General Janet Reno was asked to provide "immediate assistance in ending a violent situation in Ovett, Mississippi, between the community and two lesbians who own land in Jones County ... The women's lives are in danger." There was no immediate re-

A helping hand is needed

by Char Clemson

It has been my pleasure to coach women's softball in Cleve-

land Heights. We've had some fun teams, teams that played well and won, teams with a very competitive, positive spirit. More than anything else, just getting to know so many wonderful women is something I will treasure forever.

One of those high-spirited players is Helen Hervey. She could hit a balla country mile and she played defense with total determination, just like she lives her life. I once asked her where she was

going, what did she want to be when she grew up? She told me, quite seriously, that she wanted to be a hillbilly! Call me crazy, but I thought that was pretty funny.

Well, Ha Ha on me. About three years ago, she left for West Virginia and bought herself a

October's Center board elections are now set for Jan. 12-anyone can join and vote

piece of land high on top of a mountain. There, with minimal help from distant neighbors, she

cleared the land and built a log

cabin. I mean, cut down the trees and built a log cabin! She lived on her own in a trailer during the three-year process.

She would come back to Cleveland for the winter. She still doesn't have water or electricity. I would just be amazed at her stories and pictures of the cabin's progress. Once, she and a friend rode their bikes from West Virginia to Cleveland and back. She's brewed her own beer and grown her own food; she's a vegetarian. Helen is a most independent, admirable woman.

There are tons of Helen Hervey stories, most of them fun and adventurous. The most recent story though, is unfortunately not so happy. She took a bad fall from the second story of her log cabin and

112

Armistead Maupin's 's first gay classic, Tales of the City, will air on PBS in mid-January

crushed her spine. It looks like she'll be paralyzed from the waist down.

I know if anyone can overcome adversity, Helen can. She is going to need some help, though. We need to raise money to buy a wheelchair and build a lift to allow her to stay in Cleveland with her care-giver, Marcie Forbes, who lives on the second floor of a two family home.

An account has been set up at Ohio Savings Bank at 20133 Farnsleigh, Shaker Hts, 44122. Please make checks payable to Marcie Forbes, for deposit only. I know there are many very worthy charities to donate to, but please find it in your heart to hold out a helping hand for this terrific woman. Also, there will be a benefit at the 54 Decision, 4365 State Rd. in Cleveland on Superbowl Sunday, Jan. 30.

INSIDE

Barry Daniels looks at gay theater in 1993, and how far it has evolved from its roots

B1%

sponse by the Justice Department.

The call by Task Force Executive Director Peri Jude Radecic in Washington followed a community meeting in Ovett on December 6 attended by about 250 people opposed to the retreat, called Sister Spirit Inc.

Wanda Henson, 39, and Brenda Henson, 48, said they set up the retreat on a one-time pig farm to champion issues important to women and to provide assistance to those in need. Sister Spirit helps senior citizens, food banks and the downtrodden. Last year, Sister Spirit collected 40,000 pounds of

food for a coast food bank. The two women, who are a couple, said about 20 women live at the retreat, located about 100 miles northeast of New Orleans.

The Hensons said they have been receiving threatening phone calls and found a dead dog hanging from their mailbox about a month ago.

Opponents of the retreat are hoping to use state laws forbidding sodomy to force the women to leave town. Paul Walley, an attorney for the board of supervisors in nearby Perry County, has volunContinued on Page 6

80% of Issue 3 money

came from Colorado

Colorado Springs, Colo.Colorado for Family Values contributed nearly 80 percent of the financing for a November antigay civil rights law campaign in Cincinnati.

The contribution to Cincinnati's Citizens for Community Values angered gay-rights activists in that city. "It's pretty obscene that that much money would come into our community from outside, to a group that claimed to be local," said Barry Grossheim, co-chair of Stonewall Cincinnati.

On November 2, Cincinnati residents approved Issue 3, an amendment to the city charter that would prohibit enforcement of any laws based on sexual orientation. Gay activists, arguing that the

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amendment violates the constitutional rights of gays, obtained a federal judge's order blocking the charter amendment from taking effect until the issue can be fully argued in U.S. District Court.

Campaign finance reports released in October, before the election, showed that half of the Cincinnati anti-gay group's budget was supplied by the Colorado for Family Values, the group that sponsored that state's Amendment 2.

In campaign spending reports released in mid December, Citizens for Community Values said CFV supplied $390,100, or 79.3 percent, of the $491,773.51 it spent to promote the amendment.

Continued on Page 6

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