GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE NOVEMBER 25, 1994

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

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'Now, what do we do?'

by John Nolan

The phone calls began around 8:00 pm. "What do you think?” “Can you believe it?" "They probably haven't counted the precincts with heavy support for Hyatt yet, right?"

As the evening drew on, longer and longer, the phone calls became less frequent and less hopeful. "I can't believe it" replaced "I don't believe it" and "I'm

so depressed" be-

came a common

lament among my callers. Finally, they asked, "Now what do we do?"

Of course I wish

I had the answer to that question. I don't know the an-

"It's your fault." It's all our responsibility take control over our political future. But never before have I so profoundly understood the value of the individual vote than during this election wrap-up. (Did you see the Connecticut district that decided who would be its representative by only four votes?) One answer for us is, obviously, register and vote in every election. That action is on the individual level, we need to make it easier for people to get registered. I'm not sure how to do that. You can register by visiting a library, stopping by the Board of Elections, calling and having them send you the information, etc. It can't really get much easier, but I'm not trying to shirk the responsibility of groups like Stonewall Cleveland to inform and encourage people about voting.

CLEVELAND

A lesbian gay political organization of Northeastern Ohio

swer, but I know some things that we can gain from an election that seems to offer us little to celebrate.

On the plus side, Sens. Feinstein, Kennedy and Robb retained their seats, all in fiercelybattled contests. In Ohio, Rep. Sherrod Brown kept his congressional seat. What is the common theme among these winners? They are all Democrats, and I think that is an issue that bears some reflection.

To many people in the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community, "Republican" equals enemy and "Democrat" means friendly. Let's not forget what the late (and wonderful) Don Kendziora asked us to remember: In the effort to change the military policy regarding lesbians and gays, Democrat Sam Nunn was no friend to us; and, in a broader range of issues, Republican Barry Goldwater proved to be a great supporter of our community.

This is not to say that we should all go out and celebrate the vast number of Republican victories across the country. Clearly many of the victors were supported by the religious right and are not friendly to us or our issues. On the other hand, there are some newlyelected Republicans who are "moderate." These people adhere to the original principles of the Republican party, as I understand them: 1) fiscally conservative and 2) opposed to government interference in the private lives of the citizens. I think that definition is livable.

So what else can we do?

I'm not going to sit back and point at those of you who didn't bother to register (or who registered but didn't bother to vote) and say

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Also on the institutional level (indeed, on the national level, I believe) we are seeing a shift in the traditional postures of the two major political parties. Many Republicans seem to be getting more conservative, which causes some Democrats to move further to the left, as if to counter-balance the shift of political weight. I'm not sure if that is really possible. My concern is that we just get more diverging approaches-and it doesn't take a seasoned political analyst to show which fringe element garnered more support in this election!

So, is the answer more cooperation, or does that sound like compromise? As soon as President Clinton announced that he would support, in some way, the proposed amendment to allow prayer in the public schools, critics were accusing him of caving in to the Republican avalanche in Washington. Maybe he is. In any case, this is certainly not the last issue that will pit Clinton and the traditional Democratically-supported positions against Rep. Gingrich, Sen. Dole and the new Republican-controlled Congress.

If it sounds like I'm raising more questions than answers, perhaps I am engaged in a somewhat desperate attempt to figure out what to do next. I've never held that I (or Stonewall Cleveland) hold all of the answers. Now would be a great time for people with vision and ideas to come forward and help us determine our course of action in the future. We would welcome your input.

We still meet on the first and third Monday of the month at 7:00 pm at the Archwood United Church of Christ, 2800 Archwood Ave. in Cleveland, one block west of Pearl Rd., one block north of Denison Ave. When the first or third Monday falls on a holiday we move the meeting to the following Monday. If you have any questions about the group, you can always call for more information at 216-741-9105. I hope to see you at a meeting in the near future.

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