JUNE 23, 1995 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 13

COMMUNITY GROUPS

We must take control of our future—or someone else will

by Bob Bucklew

Stonewall Cleveland has started running some pretty hard-hitting ads in the last couple of issues of the Chronicle to announce a new initiative that we are starting, the Stonewall Cleveland Advocacy Network. SCAN was formed in direct response to the increasingly hostile threats and actions toward our community from the radical right and those who are jumping on their bandwagon. The ads feature slogans such as "Kill All Queers" and "Stop Faggots." We did not have to create these slogans. They are the words heard and seen by lesbians and gay men living in Oregon during the anti-gay initiatives. If you don't believe me, watch the video Proposition 9.

Okay, so you might be a little upset over what is happening. You might even be angry when you think about it. But you don't want to get involved because you are really busy and you have never really been political.

Besides, we don't live in Oregon, we live in Ohio. It's never been that bad here. And the lesbian-gay community is really divisive and unorganized and power hungry and...

Bill Clinton is still stuck with the "gays in the military" issue). The Christian Coalition has come out with its Moral Contract with America. Politicians fall all over themselves to be endorsed by Rush Limbaugh. Unless the lesbian and gay community unites together, many of us will be hurt, and hurt badly. Those in our community who think their money, professional prestige, party affiliation, race or gender will protect them are simply fooling themselves.

STONEWAL

Despite my having been involved with Stonewall Cleveland for almost two years, I would have agreed with you six months ago. But no more. Because, my fellow citizens, we can't afford excuses or even valid reasons to ignore the reality of our situation. We are very close to being in big trouble. They are winning the

CLEVELAND

A lesbian gay political organization of Northeastern Ohio

war. Since November's election, U.S. representatives have used the terms fag and homo to describe us. Senate majority leader Bob Dole, supported by our "moderate" governor George Voinovich, has accused President Clinton of contributing to the moral decline of America. (Despite all of his backpedaling,

My childhood, as a young gay kid in small-town Ohio, was rough. I was called a sissy, a fag. But the worst part of it was that I felt alone-totally alone. I don't think that my experience was so different from many others. And what I really don't want to happen, when the radical right comes after the

Panel on 'other'-ness to be held at art center

The Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art and the Cleveland Lesbian-Gay Center will host an interactive panel discussion, "Overcoming the Feeling of 'Other,' on Thursday, June 29, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

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This unique panel discussion is a companion event for the Contemporary Art Center's "Civil Rights Now" exhibition, which provides a dramatic forum for American artists to address civil

rights in the 1990s, encompassing issues of race, gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation.

Using "Civil Rights Now" as a springboard for discussion, "Overcoming the Feeling of 'Other'" will present a diverse panel of individuals from the local community who have at one

it feels like to be discriminated against when trying to find a place to live. In March of last year, the City of Cleveland made such discrimination illegal.

The Anti-Discrimination Committee of the Center is now looking for people to help enforce that law. "Testers" will be sent out

LESBIAN GAY Community Service Center

time been perceived as the "other." An interactive audience discussion will focus on positive ways in which each of us can empower ourselves to break down the walls that divide us from others who think we are differentwhether that difference is based on age, race, gender, sexual orientation, handicaps, physical appearance or politics.

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"Overcoming the Feeling of 'Other' will begin at 5:30 pm with a viewing of "Civil Rights Now" at the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, 8501 Carnegie Ave. (the Carnegie entrance to the Play House). The panel discussion will begin at 6:00 pm followed by a reception at 6:30 p pm. Tickets for the event are $5 for Cleveland LesbianGay Center members and $10 for non-members. For those who purchase an art center membership ($35 individual, $45 household), the event is free.

Call 216-522-1999 for reservations. Please RSVP by June 23.

"I

Do the phrases "Sorry, someone just rented it," "I don't rent to people like you," or, really don't think you'd like it here" sound familiar? Many gays and lesbians know what

Turn in the wallet

OF GREATER CLEVELAND

into the city of Cleveland in pairs as apartment seekers--one set posing as a lesbian or gay couple, the other as non-gay. The reports of how the two couples were treated will be compared and if any possible discrimination is found, we will take the matter to the Fair Housing

Review Board, the city agency responsible for the law's enforcement.

Testing may sound like entrapment, and that point has been argued in court-unsuccessfully. There are at least four groups in Cuyahoga County, such as the Cuyahoga Plan, that test for violations of state and federal law which protect against discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, familial status, and handicap. Unfortunately, none tests for discrimination based on sexual orientation, as there is no funding for such a program. The Center needs volunteers to make it possible. Please contribute your time and gas money. Tell your friends, lesbigay or otherwise, who might want to help-we need everyone to make this work. If you are interested in becoming a tester, call the Center at 216522-1999 to learn about the next training session. -Dennis Chandler-Holtz

There is a relatively new group that happening at the Center. This group is for women who are just coming out, thinking about coming out, just recently out, or having a

Will the attorney who was gay-bashed outside U4ia please contact the Center at 216-522-1999 to make arrangements for turning over the wallet of his attacker.

The other victim is willing to make a police report and we need this information. There is some indication that these bashers are still active in the neighborhood. Please help protect other members of your community. Your confidentiality will be strictly maintained.

difficult time coming out. All women are welcome in this group. It is facilitated by two professional women, multi-cultural, and yes, we are lesbian.

The group is an eight-week educational group. We prefer that you plan to attend at a time when you can make the eight week commitment, as the group needs consistency to function and for women to get the most out of it. Participants in each group have experienced a bond, and have remained friends even after the group has ended.

We cover such topics as safer sex for

Cleveland-area lesbian and gay community, is for each of us to be alone. I want to be part of a united community which is organized and active. Alone we are doomed. Alone we are fired, denied apartments, denied medical benefits. Alone we are physically and verbally attacked by young thugs who receive their inspiration from the hate-filled speech of the radical right and the politicians who will do anything to get elected.

If you become a member of SCAN, you will be given the tools to begin to lobby our elected officials, by letters, telephone calls, or E-mail. We will begin to stop our country's drift away from tolerance and freedom. We will, as a community, give support to our political friends and reason to pause to those who would abuse us to get elected. There is no cost to join SCAN. There's a large cost if you don't. We must take control of our future or someone else will.

For more information about SCAN or Stonewall Cleveland, call 216-741-9105.

women, lesbian battering, self-esteem, and of course we share coming out stories and experiences. We structure each group to meet the needs of the participants, so it is your group-you tell us what you want.

Come and join us, we look forward to each new group. The next one will be the last Thursday in August, which is the 31st. Contact the Center at 216-522-1999 to sign up for the group. We present the group in eight week intervals, with a two-week break in between groups.

-Elizz A.Z. Rainspirit, MSSA, LSW

PROTOTYPE

Coming July 1995

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