GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE JUNE 10, 1994

BUT DAD,

IT'S NOT JUST A PHASE...

It's a life commitment, complete

with freedoms responsibilities:

choices and

Stonewall Dinner makes its debut in Grand Ballroom

JEFF NEARHOOF

And when you're ready to commit to home ownership, John Lauro s ready to help. He II address each phase of your real estate search, from first glance to contract to closing.

For every real estate need, call John Lauro today. Father knows better

but John knows best.

Realty One A R

Office 991-8400

Voice Tel •

975-2056

THE ONE THING YOU CAN DO AFTER YOU'VE DONE EVERYTHING

hospice

Visiting Nurse Association of Cleveland

When there's no longer hope for a cure, make every day count. Call the Visiting Nurse Association Hospice to help you care for your terminally ill loved one.

For your free information kit, call 432-0700 ext. 244.

Torie Osborn takes time out to strategize with Pride '94 coordinator Brynna Fish.

by Charlton Harper

True to a promise made last year, Stonewall Cleveland President John Nolan proudly presided over the Third Annual Stonewall Dinner, held this year for the first time in the Grand Ballroom of the Stouffer's Tower City Hotel. The move to the Ballroom, site of so many presidential speeches as well as high school proms, took more than 360 lesbians, gay men and their supportive friends out of the dinner closet and put them squarely on the map of legitimacy.

In his introductory comments, Nolan noted that this year's Dinner reflected a "richer color palette," along with a rise in lesbian attendance, up from the previous

figure of 36 to 80 this year. Both statistics please Nolan. "I think it might say that our efforts in the past year at building bridges with other communities is paying off," he said. "Next year I'd love to fill that ballroom. But I was very happy to be in there." The rise in women nd people of color is a crucial step for a community so torn and divided within. Ruth Tkacz, a new member of Stonewall Cleveland who served on two dinner committees and acted as liaison to the Pride committee, says her advice to other women interested in getting involved with Stonewall is "Do it. Unfortunately a lot of women think Stonewall is what the men do. But this is a very active group that is advocating for gay and lesbian rights. I know the dinner is cost prohibitive for some people and money may be tighter in the women's community. But nobody is turned away. People should realize that efforts are made to cover the costs for those who can't afford the whole ticket. I'd like to see us do more next year about that."

The evening opened with cocktails at 6:30 followed by dinner at 7:30. Several elected officials were present, some making their regular show of support, others dropping by for the first time. Cleveland City Council President Jay Westbrook and Council members Helen Smith and Ray Pianka earned a well-deserved round of applause for their work this past year on Cleveland's anti-discrimination legislation for lesbians and gay men. State Senator Madeline Cain received special commendation from Ohio Attorney General Lee Fisher for her current work on hate crimes legislation for gays and lesbians.

In his now-familiar "whistle-stop" appearance, Fisher spoke of Ohio's hate crimes law and its lack of protection for lesbians and gays, a void still not corrected. His commitment to such coverage is strengthened, he says, because of the extreme hate the issue raises, hate that is evident even in the letters he receives from those who disagree with him. "Every time I receive a piece of hate mail [about gay rights], my resolve is stronger to stand up and decry that kind of hatred," he said.

New to the Stonewall Dinner were Judge Stuart Friedman, Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor Peter Lawson Jones, and U.S. Rep. Eric Fingerhut.

The featured speaker for the evening was

Torie Osborn, columnist for the Advocate and former director of both the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center.

Osborn greeted the crowd with the observation of Cleveland that, "This is a community on the move." It was her first visit here in five years. Her speech noted that though the green light for gay issues is on and glowing in the Clinton administration, Washington is still filled with contradictions for gays and lesbians. "There is still a feeling of entrenched opposition to gays and lesbians," she said. "There is still a fight

being waged around the coffee table at

home."

Her battle plan? "Come out of the closet! It is the single most important political act by gays and lesbians. We are not going to change Congress... until gay men and lesbians in greater numbers come out in their sphere of influence.” Her plea to destroy the confines of the closet had an ironic edge in a room filled with people nervously dodging the glare of camera flashbulbs.

Gearing up for the battle against the Radical Right was the focus of most of Osborn's remarks. She emphasized the need to change the language and semantics we use in addressing the Right. Labeling the extremists the "Christian Right" or "Religious Right," places the emphasis on the struggle of good Christians over evil heathens, not effectively helpful to gays and lesbians. Instead, says Osborn, call them the fanatics they are. The "Extreme Right" or "Radical Right" are better terms.

Though the struggle against anti-gay forces seems overwhelming, Osborn reminded her audience that "We are still a young social movement." Because of a friendlier White House, the horrific rise of the Right, 25 years of hard struggle and 13 years of AIDS, "We are now a community galvanized," she concluded. "Thirty-eight percent of America thinks we are okay. Thirty-eight percent! I think we can make that 51 percent by the year 2000."

Though the Dinner is a fundraiser, Nolan says that it never makes a lot of money for Stonewall. "We pay our bills," he said, "and we clear a couple of thousand dollars. Last year we contributed some of that money to Equality Cincinnati. This year we may try to put some of the money into work being done against the [Ohio] ballot issue."

Nolan says that Osborn was most surprised by the separatism and division along gender and racial lines that plague the Cleveland lesbian-gay community, one of the few major cities still facing such issues in the 1990s. He remains firm that Stonewall will continue its efforts to bring Cleveland out of the '70s and into the '90s by working at bridging those gaps. "Some of the money raised from the Dinner will go towards the anti-racism sensitivity work that we've started. I'm very happy with our first session that we had on May 8 and the work that Mistinguette Smith-Malone did in facilitating that workshop. I hope she'll continue."