22 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE APRIL 22, 1994
COMMUNITY GROUPS
How we can confront Ohio's anti-gay initiative
by John Nolan
There's been a lot of talk recently about the impending "ballot initiative" in the state of Ohio. What does it all mean, and what can we do about it? I'm not sure that anyone has the absolute answer to either question, but I have some ideas for us to consider.
What does it mean? Other states have already experienced the kind of ballot initiative that we could face in Ohio, most notably Colorado and Oregon. Basically, language is drafted and put on the ballot for the general public to vote on. If it passes by more than 50 percent of the votes cast in that election, it becomes law. (This shows you how important it is for every one of us to vote in every single election!)
And what kind of language is used in these initiatives? That's really disturbing. The general purpose of the initiative is to make it illegal for a city or any other municipality to pass legislation which protects people against discrimination based on sexual orientation (like in Cleveland, where this protective legislation was just passed by City Council last month). Put simply, it would be illegal to protect lesbians, gay men and bisexual people from discrimination. Isn't that a perversion of the Constitu-
FACE THE MUSIC.
1994 BY ROBERT KIRBY
زرر
1191115
I'M GONNA LOVE
tional rights we grew up believing belonged doing so they would be supporting the rights
to all of us?
The form of the language is very important in these initiatives. In Oregon, one of the reasons that many people think the initiative failed is that the language was too harsh. It includes prohibitions, not just against lesbians, gay men and bisexuals, but also against people who supported the rights of lesbians, gay men and bisexual people! That was too much for the voters to accept and so, in part for that reason, they defeated the measure.
of child molesters. You can see how the language of the initiative can make all of the difference to the voters who are struggling to understand the issue.
In addition to the language itself, the characterization of what is at issue clouds the picture for people. By presenting this
STONEWALL
CLEVELAND
A lesbian gay political organization of Northeastern Ohio
In Colorado the ballot language was less harsh. It merely listed the groups of people whose rights could not be protected by a municipality. In that state, lesbians, gay men and bisexuals were grouped along with pederasts, child molesters, people involved in bestiality, etc. It would be pretty scary even to some of our supporters to vote against the measure, if they thought that by
protection against discrimination as a "special right," it is possible to make voters believe that we are looking for something that they haven't got. That's just not true. What we're asking is that the constitutional rights afforded to all Americans be returned to us. Pretty simple, no? Once more, it's not about "special" rights, just the same old rights that everybody else in the country enjoys. That's the message that we need to get to our friends, not only within our community but, perhaps more importantly, outside of our community. If our mothers and fathers,
curbside
YOU....LIKE NOBODY'S! LOVED YOU
BARB
STR
JUDY
GARLAND
COMANY
I'VE ALWAYS CRAVED A BOYFRIEND WHO WALKS MORE ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF LIFE.... SOMEONE WITH MORE OF A GRITTY, PUNK SORT OF ATTITUDE....YOU'VE BEEN A REAL DISAPPOINTMENT IN THAT REGARD...
HEY BABE... JUST GOT THE NEW BIKINI KILL. PUT IN ON WILL YA?
PUNK TONY
Dykes To Watch Out For
hummus where the heart
is
184
INGER IS EXPECTED HOME
IMMINENTLY FROM THE BLACK GAY AND LESBIAN LEADERSHIP
FORUM CONFERENCE,
AND MO HAS DROPPED BY FOR DINNER.
27
COME RAIN OR COME SHI-INE.......
EXCUSE ME..?
HIGH AS
A MOUNTAIN
OH DON'T BE SUCH A JACKASS-IVE GOT
A MUCH MORE ECLECTIC CD COLLECTION THAN JUST THIS STUFF...
BESIDES, I APPRECIATE THIS MUSIC MAINLY FOR IT'S CAMP VALUE...
OKAY. I'M ALL DONE WITH MY FAMOUS HUMMUS À LA MO. AS SOON AS GINGER GETS HERE, WE CAN EAT.
DISTANTY
JUST ADD H2O!
THERE'S NO
BUSINESS LIKE
SHOW
BUSNESS
I'M SORRY TONYI JUST CAN'T GET OVER THAT YOU'RE SUCH AN OLDSCHOOL FAG...
DEEP AS A RIVER...
IT'S NOT LIKE
I TAKE IT SERIOUSLYYOU'RE JUST TOO PRETENTIOUS TO HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR ABOUT IT!
"MR. PUNK MAN"! (SNICKER)!
WHOA! CAN YOU BELIEVE ALL THESE SCI-FI RADIATION TESTS THE GOVERNMENT DID IN THE 40'S AND 50's? DOCTORS DIDN'T EVEN TELL PEOPLE THEY WERE INJECTING THEM WITH PLUTONIUM!
FRA. SEZ:
MILK
ARE GOOD
FOR YOU
YEAH SURE... WELL EXCUSE ME, BUT IT'S GOTTEN JUST A BIT TOO "JUDY" IN HERE..
BESIDES, IT'S TIME TO READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF "THE FACE.!!.
YEAH. HOW CONVENIENT NO ONE'S ADMITTING IT UNTIL 50 YEARS AFTER THE FACT. MAYBE IN 2044, THEY'LL CONFESS TO ALL THE STUFF THEY'RE DOING NOW.
I MEAN, LOOK AT ALL THIS: ROSEMARY CLOONEY, LENA HORNE... BARBRA STREISAND AND THESE
SHOW TUNES!
IT'S SICKENING!!
SUNDAY
YOU THE ABE WITH
SWEE
THERE'S NOTHING SADDER?
THAN A ONE-MAN WOMAN...
LIKE HOW THE ARMY FORCED SOLDIERS IN THE GULF WAR TO TAKE ALL KINDS OF EXPERIMENTAL ANTI-BOTULISM AND ANTI-NERVE GAS DRUGS. NOW THEY'VE GOT BIZARRE ILLNESSES, THEIR BABIES ARE DEFORMED, AND THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE DOESN' SEE A CONNECTION.
9
MAN
LOOKING FOR THE THAT GOT♫ AWAY.
LOIS,
NO SHIT! YOU ARE SO NAIVE!
SNIFF
brothers, sisters, co-workers, etc. understand that we're not asking for anything other than what they have, I think that it's much more likely that they will support us. I hope that each of you reading this will take the opportunity to explain this important point to at least one person outside of the lesbian-gay-bisexual community every week. That's how the message is spread, and we really need to get the word out.
And that's part of the answer to my second question, "What can we do about it?" Several things:
1. Register to vote, if you haven't already. Encourage your families and friends to do the same. You can register at the public library or by calling the Board of Elections at 443-6459.
2. Educate yourself. Continue to read this column and the other information that Stonewall Cleveland will be making available. Come to a meeting on the first or third Monday of the month at 6:30 pm at the Center. Listen when people talk about the ballot initiative and ask questions when you have them.
3. Financially support our efforts. That means send money to groups like Stonewall Cleveland (P.O. Box 5936, Cleveland, OH 44101), OutVoice/Citizens for Justice (1487 West 5th Ave., Suite 226, Columbus, OH 43212; Tel. 800-700-JUST), and Ohioans Against Discrimination (395 E. Broad St., Suite 310, Columbus, OH 43215-3877; Tel. 614-265-8300). If you need more information about the organizations before you feel comfortable supporting them, call and ask your questions.
4. Support the people who are doing this work. We can use help assembling mailing lists, hosting house meetings to discuss these issues and explain what we need to do, and organizing specific efforts as the campaign develops. And it sure feels good when people say things like "I appreciate the work that your group does" or "I'd like to help out." We can use all the help we can get in the coming months.
5. Come to the Third Annual Stonewall Cleveland Pride Dinner on Sunday, June 5, 1994. I think that the information you will hear there, and the feeling of community working together is important to us as we battle this initiative.
So, there you have it: a few thoughts on what the initiative can mean and what you can do to help defeat it. I hope that you'll join us in the effort. We have everything to win if we work together. Thanks for reading this far.
HELLO! I'M BACK! DIGGER! COME TO MAMA, YOU BIG WOLF-GIRL!
WELCOME HOME!
HOW WAS OH, IT WAS GREAT! THE THE CONFER-GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING ENCE? WORKSHOP REALLY GOT ME
ALL CHARGED UP! AND I GOT ME SHELL NDEGEOCELLO'S AUTOGRAPH AFTER SHE PERFORMED SATURDAY.
NO KIDDING! I'VE SEEN HER ON
MTV. PAIR OF
ARMS, HUH?
RING
RING
DONT ANSWER THAT! UM...I MEAN, WE'RE TALKING! CAN'T WE LET THE MACHINE PICK UP?
BEEP! HI, IT'S MALIKA FOR GINGER. I MISS YOU, BABY! HOPE THE CONFERENCE WAS FUN... CALL ME AS SOON AS YOU GET IN, OKAY? I LOVE YOU, ANGEL LIPS! CLIK!?,
YOU DOG! YOU HAD AN AFFAIR, DIDN'T You?
GINGER! YOU DIDN'T!
DID You?
WELL, I WOULDN'T CALL IT AN AFFAIR. IT DIDN'T MEAN ANYTHING, IT JUST SORT OF HAPPENED. I HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT HOW TO TELL MALIKA YET.
TELL HER? WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO TELL HER?
SO WY SPOIL IT? LOIS. SHE MAT SHE DOESN'T TRUSTS ME!WOW WON'T MURT HER!
OH, GREAT! WHILE YOU'RE AT IT, WHY NOT SLIP SOME RAINOACTIVE IODINE INTO MER DECAF?
جدول