GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE OCTOBER 13, 1995

No motives in shortening profile

To the Editors:

COMMUNITY FORUM

In response to the letter to the editor from Tom Fletcher in the October 1 issue of your paper ["HIV status was deleted"], Stonewall's election committee had requested that all candidates for the Board of the Directors submit a biography that was one to two paragraphs in length.

There were many candidate biographies that exceeded that requirement. Unfortunately, those had to be consolidated into one paragraph. Due to the number which needed to be edited and time constraints of a mailing deadline, biographies were edited by the committee. There were no motives regarding the editing of any biography.

Anne Santilli, President

Board of Directors, Stonewall Union

Keep hearing fair

Columbus

The following was sent to Rep. Thomas Sawyer of Akron, the ranking Democrat on the House Economic and Educational Opportunities oversight subcommittee, concerning a hearing on school programs for gay and lesbian youth. The hearings, originally set for Sept. 12 and moved to Oct. 13, have now been postponed "indefinitely." Dear Mr. Sawyer:

I hope that the hearing entitled "Parental Involvement in Social Issues in Education" proves to be successful.

THE OPEN PRAIRIE by Joe Noover!

3 WORLD

TUBERCULOSIS VICTIMS

Gloover

VE/35-95

OPEN PRAIRIE SYNDICATER

deny the existance of over 10 percent of the population of the United States. I happen to be a proud member of that 10 percent.

I hope you will not allow gay bashing to be the focal point of the hearing. I hope you will not allow Lou Sheldon to succeed in setting up a blueprint for censoring school boards across the country. I hope you will not allow Lou Sheldon to recommend guidelines according to Lou Sheldon.

I hope this hearing produces intelligent guidelines that won't suppress the educational process.

I am also hopeful that you will not allow Six deadly sins

the hearing to become a forum for Lou Sheldon and the Traditional Values Coalition to continue their gay-bashing agenda.

Forcing schools to censor material on sexualtiy as Mr. Sheldon proposes is to deny students the freedom to receive information.

It is said that knowledge sets you free. Knowledge gives you the ability to make informed deisions. In all that I have read and among all the people I have met, no one has ever said they became gay because of something that they read of heard in class.

Students have the right to the freedom of knowledge even when that information is controversial or uncomfortable.

Lou Sheldon would like to deny access to that knowledge, just as his group would like

Eric L. Floyd Akron

The following was sent to religious right leader Jerry Falwell and the anti-gay newsletter The Report.

Dear Mr. Falwell:

I recently watched The Gay Agenda which you produced in 1992. It was very enlightening, to say the least.

The Gay Agenda was alarmingly convincing, but what was most enlightening about your video was this: As repulsive as I found many of those images that you have so masterfully pieced together, even more repulsive are your deceptive ways. Your video is filled with lies, bias and horribly exaggerated statistics spawned from ignorance, hate and fear. From which tabloid did you get your

AIDS

BENEFIT

LET ZEM

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information, anyway? Even the title is a lie, as if to convince the ignorant that there is some covert homosexual conspiracy for world domination. While the actions of many of the gay people in your video can certainly be seen as strange and even disturbing, your activities are just as dangerous and destructive, and not only to the gay community but to society as a whole.

Look again at those people in your video and see how human beings can react to years of hate, rejection, oppression, and ignorance from people like yourself. What is truly reprehensible is the fact that while you judge these "perverts" and spew forth your allegiance to "traditional family values," you are intentionally spreading your hate, ignorance and fear to others by manipulating Bible doctrine into messages of condemnation (i.e. gay equals sin). I want no part of your family values!

Let me clarify something that I'm sure you already know; the bizarre behavior of the characters in your video are no more representative of the gay community as a whole than are the wild, drunken, horny heteros found on Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras (See The Straight Agenda).

You accuse gays of threatening "traditional family values." Frankly, I think it's obvious that the straight world is doing a fine job destroying "T.F.V.s" on its own. If you want frightening statistics, Mr. Falwell, count on the national averages for divorce, rape, child abuse and neglect, adultery, spousal Continued on facing page

SPEAK OUT

URL: http:// www.winternet.c

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Volume 11, Issue 8

Publisher:

Business Manager:

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Martha J. Pontoni

Patti Harris Doreen Cudnik Brian DeWitt

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John Graves, Jeff Hirst,

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Barbara Bodemer,

Beth Leonard Christine Hahn Gina Adkins David A. Ebbert Rivendell Marketing 212-242-6863 David A. Ebbert 800-426-5947

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Should we support anybody in the presidential primaries?

by Marvin Liebman

and Anthony Young

The 1996 presidential primaries are just a few months away, and gay and lesbian communities across the country are already hardpressed to find a candidate with the political courage to champion our issues.

Currently, there are nine candidates for the Republican nomination, one Democrat candidate, Bill Clinton, and two possible third party candidates. Not one of the presidential hopefuls has taken a friendly, or indeed any, stance on gay issues. Most of the Republican field has been pandering to the openly homophobic Christian Coalition in the hopes of receiving their all-important support.

President Clinton, although friendlier to our concerns than any president in history, has been noticeably silent since November 1994, has failed on the gays in the military issue, and now seems incapable of action. We are nearly invisible except to the haters in the Christian Coalition and their dozens of clones around the country.

Who, then, among all the candidates, might be a voice for American lesbians and gay men? It is apparent that gay issues cannot be swept under the carpet this political season in light of the Christian Coalition's virulent

attacks and the national news coverage that Senator Bob Dole encountered when he returned a $1,000 campaign contribution from the Log Cabin Republicans.

One has to question the motives behind Log Cabin making the contribution in the first place. It is unconscionable that a gay political group such as Log Cabin would give money to a candidate who, earlier in the summer, made it quite clear in a letter to the Washington Times that he opposes "the special-interest gay agenda [that] reaches as far to suggest special status for sexual orientation under federal civil rights statutes."

This, however, probably has more to do with Log Cabin's priority of supporting Republican candidates than gay and lesbian issues. Although Log Cabin executive director Rich Tafel tried putting a positive political spin on the incident, it was ultimately a humiliating attempt by Log Cabin to buy some influence in the Dole campaign.

The only bright spot in the Republican field of candidates is Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who has openly criticized the Christian Coalition for intolerance and bigotry. Specter was the only Republican presidential aspirant who seemed prepared to educate himself on gay issues and has the courage, conviction, and political savvy to

speak out for the gay community. Specter could be a pivotal candidate, taking positions favorable to the gay community and thus elevate gay issues for serious consideration and public debate not only for the other Republican candidates but also for President Clinton.

Although Specter's chances for winning the nomination are slim, he can, in effect, control the dialogue on this and other "controversial" issues such as abortion and welfare. The Specter campaign has even sought advice from the authors of this column and others on how to reach out to the gay community for support. In spite of the counsel and advice, the Specter campaign has remained silent on enlisting the gay community support.

Why did the Specter campaign lose interest in gay issues? Our initial advice was that Specter had to make certain good-faith overtures to the gay community to enlist their support, e.g. sign on as a co-sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act; pledge to use his influence as chair of the Labor. Health, Human Services, and Education Appropriations Sub-Committee to support AIDS funding and research; to reconsider any opposition to gays in the military in light of two years of failure of the

"don't ask, don't tell" circus; and to use the fall session of the Senate to support issues that come up relating to the gay community. Seemingly, the gay issue was too hot for even the most moderate of the Republican candidates to handle.

The best hope for the gay community is to support any politician, regardless of party affiliation, who stands openly with us on issues important to our community. Candidates who do not openly support our cause are not worthy of our money, volunteer efforts, and most importantly, our vote. Groups such as Log Cabin Republicans should exercise better judgement when offering support to candidates that simply appear to be moderate.

We should accept nothing less than full support from a candidate. If there is no politician in your area that is worthy of support, send your contribution to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, (10th Floor, 1012 14th St. N.W., Washington, DC, 20005) which provides financial help to openly lesbian and gay candidates across the country.

It will take a lot more than $1,000 contributions to get our community and groups like Log Cabin a place at the table.