8 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE JUNE 9, 1995

COMMUNITY FORUM

Represent all of us

To the Editors:

I am writing to you concerning the activities that have been happening at Stonewall Union of Columbus, in regard to the rejection of the minority health grant, the exclusion of lesbian health issues, and Stonewall's pattern of treating volunteers poorly.

Since 1986, I have tried to be a supporter of Stonewall and its activities. Many times I have responded when Stonewall has asked for volunteers (although I did volunteer at two Gay Pride marches). But instead, my offers of support have not been taken seriously. I was not contacted and asked to help again. At the time when I volunteered at Gay Pride, I did what I was asked to do and I had a good time in the process.

Is this because I was not a member of the controlling clique? I have heard that the treatment that I received is a common practice of abuse for people without a prior relationship with certain board members. How does this reflect on new people in the community?

With my understanding of coalition building, the rejection of the minority health grant was a mistake. If Stonewall had any plans of attracting anyone other than white gay people into Stonewall, they would have been able to build on the grant's outreach into communities of color instead of stopping it. How is Stonewall trying to include different communities into this year's Pride march? How are they planning on becoming a diverse organization that represents all G-L-B communities?

Part of Stonewall's mission is to educate. Lesbian health issues have been noticeably lacking from their programs. In the past years, what have they done on breast cancer, lesbians with HIV/AIDS, and homophobia within the medical field? Have they held workshops or conferences to discuss and

cate professionals?

YES, I ADMIT I HAD MY

RESERVATIONS TOO. BUT WHEN I FOUND OUT THEY WEREN'T HOMOSEXUAL I KNEW THEY WOULD BE IDEAL PARENTS!

FLORIDA AGE

minded organization and I have never had a problem being "out" to other volunteers. But in a country like Gabon, there is no gay lifestyle. It is certain that there are gay Gabonese, but here it is almost impossible to be "out." I guess it will take a long time for gay rights to arrive here, but such is life in a developing country.

انس

OFFN PRAIRIE SYNDKATE

Howver

LOOKS LIKE A FINCH OF MONKEY BUSINESS!

19-95

you've got that marquee spot you've earned. I know you're a lot happier, and you'll always be a star in my autograph book of life. Adieu, mon ami... Pax vobiscum.

T.G. Cleveland

Living here has made me appreciate the There was a service?

gay community at home, and I would love to hear from other gays and lesbians, especially if there are any returned Peace Corps volunteers out there. Enclosed is my address:

Melinda Bauman College Jesus Marie B.P. 120 Bitam, Gabon

inform lesbians on these issues and to eduThe passing of a figurehead

Because of the above issues that I have with Stonewall, I will not work with Stonewall until the board of directors has made positive changes. These changes must include inclusion of communities of color, a better treatment of volunteers, and a commitment to lesbian health issues.

Finally, I would like to say that Stonewall could be an asset to the Central Ohio G-L-B community. Instead, it looks like an organization that is servicing only white people and that the only project is the Pride march. I would like to publicly ask the board of directors to expand their thinking and look at Stonewall as representing all of us, not just the upper elite of the board and their personal friends.

Dorothy Kaliopi Hatsinikolis Columbus

Out in Africa

To the Editors:

I am a lesbian writing to you from a country in Central Africa called Gabon. I am a Peace Corps volunteer, and am here teaching physics and chemistry. I am an Ohioan and was part of Cleveland's gay community while I was in college. Friends have been sending me the Chronicle, and I appreciate hearing about the gay lifestyle, because here it doesn't exist.

Fortunately, the Peace Corps is an open-

Community Forum

The Chronicle encourages everyone to write and express your opinion about the community or the paper. Please, however, keep letters constructive, and avoid name-calling and personal attacks. Please be brief. We reserve the right to edit letters. We will print your name unless you specifically ask

us not to.

Letters must include a street address and phone, for verification only. They can be sent via U.S. mail, fax, or E-mail to the addresses in the masthead above.

To the Editors:

I just heard through an old aquaintance of the passing of a figurehead in our community. I speak of none other than Ms. Mona Desmond. This was a person who never left me with a bad feeling. Whether it was to see her and chat at the Clifton Arts Walk, or to enjoy an evening at Club Isabella, or even a late night memory at the old Bayou Landing, (my earliest memory of her) she always went out of her way to say "Hey!" and make me feel like I was her closest confidante. Although she could "dish the dirt" with the best of 'em, I never felt that any of it was truly vindictive.

So many memories... Dancin' in the Streets, the NOCI Picnic, on stage at Numbers, the jazz clubs of University Circle, sitting around at sunrise at countless anonymous homes, fighting hangovers, flipping through the channels, trying to find any vicarious visual amusement, and talking about our deepest, deepest loneliness. I cannot forget the "other side" of Mona. The side I wish others knew. Do not presume that I intend to canonize her, but there was a side that was very soulful. No, the word I was searching for is "profound." Which, I think, is why "Torch" or "the Blues" was such a natural to her. Hers was a heart that truly felt. Oh yes, she cosmeticized well! She wore all the masks at all the appropriate times, but to some of us, those masks were so very transparent. The "hidden" Mona was still there. Yes, she may have proudly flashed her anatomy with wild abandon, but ther parts of herself that she truly wanted to expose, this was not an easy task.

I only share this as an observation, and so many of us still carry that somberness inside ourselves, but there are only a few wishes that, for the sake of ourselves, and our community (notice "unity"), one being that we can help erase the walls between us, that one segment of our group can help ease and comfort the next, regardless of the caste in which we find ourselves, and that we can learn to appreciate each and every "star in our universe" not in retrospect, but while we can still let them know their value, while they are with us, here, on this plain.

Mona, thanks for all the memories. I hope

The following was sent to Thomas Gertz, the Akron Health Department's AIDS coordinator:

Dear Mr. Gertz:

On May 25 we read an article in the West Side Leader about the Sixth Annual AIDS Memorial Service. Why have we not heard of this ceremony before? We are both very active in the gay community, and have done many benefits for the Northeast Ohio Taskforce on AIDS and individuals suffering with AIDS. We belong to the Summit Bowling Association as bowlers, and Pam as a former officer for some years. Through this association hundreds of dollars have been raised and donated to NEOTFA and Violet's Cupboard.

We read with great dismay the attendance at the ceremony was a mere 130 people. Having attended funerals of many friends who have died from AIDS, we are confident that had there been advance notice of the ceremony, the attendance would have been much higher. We question the purpose of the memorial service. It appears to us that it had a political agenda. We must reiterate again that this was the sixth ceremony, and at least by the second one, we would have heard about it. It seems funny to us that the Akron Beacon Journal and other periodicals knew about this and not the general public.

We would hope that a letter of explanation to the gay community would be submitted to the Local Make-Up and the Gay People's Chronicle in response to this letter, which will also be submitted to the above periodicals. If no explanation is offered, it will serve as evidence of lack of commitment to AIDS as it affects the gay community. We hope to hear from you soon.

We exist

Chris A. Bertison Pamela A. Thomas Akron

The following was sent to the Erie Morning News and Daily Times: To the Editors:

I am writing about the float that Erie's lesbian, gay and bisexual community will be having in this Saturday's [May 27] bicentennial parade. Some feel we should be barred from the parade simply for being gay. The design for the float was subjected to the same standards as all the other floats and was approved by the parade committee. If there had been anything objectionable about the float

itself, it would have never been approved by the committee. The same is true of the copy of the Erie Gay Community Newsletter going into the time capsule.

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Volume 10, Issue 24

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Correction

An article in the June 2 Pride Guide gave an incorrect location for the Cleveland Rainboe Club's after-Pride party June 17. The party begins at 8 pm at Cleveland Public Theatre's rehearsal hall, 3099 Vine Court, which runs from West 32nd St. to Franklin Circle, a half-block north of Franklin Ave. There is no party at the theatre itself.

We are part of the history of this city and all of us, gay and straight, black and white, Christian, Jew and Moslem have a right to be here and to be treated as human beings of worth. Why should heterosexuals (or anyone) receive special rights?

We are your clergy, your teachers, your poliical figures, your health-care workers, your factory workers, your artists. We are the people who work and pay taxes and maintain homes, just like everyone else. More than that, we are your children, your parents, your aunts and uncles and friends and co-workers. We are part of your family and we are the people you already know and love.

Despite the paranoid fantasies of some, the vast majority of us lead average workaday lives.

The only statement being made by the float is simply that we exist and live and work alongside of you. Is there so much hatred in the hearts of someone that they would deny us the right to simply exist?

We are all part of this city. I am proud and glad to live and work in Erie.

Can't we just all just get along? There is room for all.

Michael Mahler Erie, Pa.