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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE JUNE 10, 1994
Mandy Carter to organize Cleveland lesbians and gays'
Continued from page 1
minister as a spokesman, while the pro-gay "Equality Cincinnati" spokespeople were all white. The argument that gays are a privileged white group was successful in dividing the black community against the gay community on Election Day.
Carter will be in the Cleveland area for a
series of workshops and strategy sessions during the weekend of June 17. Area community leaders of all races have been notified of her efforts but Carter's primary goal is to work within the African-American community to begin political organizing, and secondarily to build a coalition with the white gay and lesbian community.
Hospital denies care in Fremont
Continued from page 1
103-degree fever and a headache from medication he was taking for an infection. He was near Fremont, about 45 miles southeast of Toledo.
He telephoned his doctor in Maine, who recommended that he check himself into the nearest hospital.
Reardon examined Charon in the emergency room of Memorial Hospital. Charon told
Reardon he had AIDS.
Hull said Charon was transferred because doctors believed he had a rare skin disease-toxic epidermal necrolysiswhich the Toledo hospital was better suited to handle. The disease is caused by an allergic reaction to prescription drugs. But Ellen Sacks, an ACLU lawyer, said Memorial Hospital
"Once you get an AIDS patient in the hospital, you never get him out."
Reardon testified that Hull did not feel comfortable admitting the patient. He did not elaborate.
He also testified that Hull said, "Once you get an AIDS patient in the hospital, you never get him out."
Hull has said he refused to admit Charon because he thought Charon would get better care at another hospital. Hull said he did not discriminate against Charon, who was transferred to Medical College Hospital in Toledo.
in 1990 admitted a 96-year-old woman who had the same disease. The woman was later transferred to a burn unit at a Cleveland hospital. Sacks said Memorial Hospital should have provided the same care for Charon.
She said the Toledo hospital does not have a burn unit, which is necessary to treat someone with the skin disease. But she said it does have an AIDS program, which is why Charon was transferred.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and a court order directing the hospital to stop exclusionary admission practices. The lawsuit also asks the hospital to educate its staff about AIDS.
Carter's political activism stretches back 26 years and her coalition building skills are legendary. In 1990 she was the coordinator of "North Carolina Senate Vote '90," a political action committee for the state's gays and lesbians to support Harvey Gantt in his election challenge to U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms. After that nearly-successful campaign brought her into the national spotlight, Carter was offered the lobbying job at HRCF. She received some criticism from the black gay and lesbian community for joining an organization which has not had a good reputation with people of color. She took the job. Her optimistic approach is that white people can be challenged, but not
when "you're standing on the outside of the door," as she said in a February interview in BLK magazine. Her salary will be paid by HRCF for the year she is working for the Leadership Forum.
The Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum was founded in 1988 as an alternative for African-American gay men and lesbians to exchange information and address urgent issues facing their community. In addition to Carter's organizational trips, the Leadership Forum voted to have representatives attend every major civil rights conference this summer, and to actively reach out to the nation's black religious leaders. ✓
HIT has new name and director
Continued from page 1
funding and support for the ever-growing and broadening client base. "Chrisse was clearly the best person to be this "new" kind of director," he says. "The announcement was literally cheered at the annual meeting."
What's in a name?
Taskforce members had other new business to cheer as well on May 19.
Realizing that a name doesn't always reflect the job at hand, members of Health Issues Taskforce voted to change the name of the Taskforce to one that better reflects the purpose of the organization and the community it serves. The Taskforce will now be known as the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland.
Though "ATGC" may not trip off the tongue as easily as HIT, Readinger says that the crucial addition of "the A-word will let the organization make it clearer to clients and funders just what it is we do." He says that the word "Taskforce" will provide continuity to those familiar with HIT, while "Greater Cleveland" better reflects the Taskforce's geographic focus.
The Board of Trustees had approved the name change at the beginning of the year, but waited until the annual meeting to present it to the general membership. Readinger says that the name "Health Issues Taskforce" will still appear on all checks made out to clients who receive financial assistance. This will insure the continued right to privacy of Taskforce clients.
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