8 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE DECEMBER 22, 1995

COMMUNITY FORUM

Homophobia wrecked

our dream home

The following was sent to Cleveland councilmember James Rokakis:

Mr. Rokakis:

As a new resident of Ward 15(14 months), I find it necessary at this time to describe to you the specific situation to which my partner and I find ourselves.

A year ago last summer we purchased a HUD home on Virginia Avenue, one block north of Archwood, that appeared to be an exceptional value, but needing many basic repairs. It had been abandoned for some time, the windows boarded up and the interior stripped of virtually all amenities. As it is our first home, we were of course very excited at the prospect of revitalizing a property in what appeared to be a resurgent city neighborhood.

Well, repairs to the property have progressed well, with all new plumbing, new roof on the garage, landscaping, many new windows, etc.

The problem of course is that we have not been able to live quietly or peacefully in our new home because of almost constant harassment by neighbors, visitors, and especially children and adolescents who have targeted our property and persons for vandalism and abuse. I am not referring to such minor acts as garbage strewn on the lawn, but for example:

■ Constant name calling by children and adolescents,

Simulated masturbation by adolescents on the street,

Broken windows and paint damage to parked vehicles on our property, ■Egging and snowballs targeting our home, Driveway strewn with broken glass.

It is reasonable to ask at this point: What about the parents of these children? And have you called the police?

Well, I can honestly say that I am fearful of almost any contact with residents of this

THE OPEN PRAIRIE by Joe Noover!

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identify the specific participants in these acts of vandalism to my property.

If you should have the opportunity to drive down Virginia Avenue during the holidays, you will immediately be able to recognize our home: It has a white star covered in

LAWSUIT THREAT

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such an important figure as Buck Harris. Emilio/a Lombardi Paradise Club, Transsexual Menace Akron

broken egg yolks and perhaps a few shards What Price the PD?

of glass. Now we dream only of relocating anywhere else as soon as our renovations are complete.

Name withheld from publication by request Cleveland

Among the Cleveland civil rights ordinances modified in 1994 to include "sexual orientation" is the city's ethnic intimidation ordinance, which is intended to stop acts such as the ones described above.

street. When confronted on the street, I am Thanks to Buck

either ignored (which is fine with me) or greeted with the utmost contempt by adult residents. As most of these acts of vandalism and abuse take place in broad daylight, I believe they are done with the tacit approval of the parents of these children.

On the one occasion that I was verbally threatened with physical harm by an adult male neighbor, I of course called the police immediately. The officers arrived promptly, were polite, sympathetic and very helpful. On the advice of these officers, I attempted to complete a report of this incident at Second District police station on Fulton Road, but was thwarted in my efforts. I understand from Cuyahoga County's Witness/Victim staffers that my experience at Second District is not unusual.

Consequently, I spent several days pursuing legal remedies against this individual but was not able to induce any neighbor who witnessed the incident to come forward. Like me they don't want to be the target of retribution. Very shortly after this incident, I happily learned that this individual was sentenced to 8-15 years for other crimes.

I appreciate the time you have taken to read about my concerns. I, of course, do not expect you to be able to adjust the homophobic attitudes of residents of Virginia Avenue. As necessary, I will continue to use every legal means available to me as a remedy to acts of vandalism and abuse. As I both work and attend school, and my partner is frequently out of town, I cannot often

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 namecalling 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:

-Editors

I wanted to take some time to publicly thank Buck Harris for having my friends and I on his first radio show at his new station and time slot on December 10. [Harris's show, The Gay '90s, recently moved to WERE 1300 AM in Cleveland, Sundays at 7 pm.]

It was a very interesting experience for one who has never been on that side of the

radio, in that Harris and the other people

involved with the show were not used to the

station, its cramped environment, and the

bits of electronics that makes everything work. Everything worked out fine in the end, except for the fact that there was little time to cover a lot of material. I'm amazed at how quickly time can pass when you're on the air. There was still much to cover when the show ended.

Some of the issues that we did not have time to cover include:

■A paramedic in Washington, D.C. who refused to treat a transgendered woman after she had been hit by a car. He stood by and made derogatory remarks about her while she was on the ground in need of help.

■Two other transgendered women were murdered in Massachusetts (at different times and by different people) by men who had picked them up.

■ In Colorado, a 20-year-old transgendered man is facing up to 32 years in jail for consensual sex that occurred when he and his partners were teenagers, because he failed to disclose to them that he had a vagina.

■ Gender Lobbying Days, where more than one hundred transgendered people visited their U.S. representatives and senators this past November as well as plans for this coming November.

The transgender presence at the Creating Change Conference.

I'm hoping that Buck will invite us back to discuss these and other issues that are occurring within the transgender community.

All in all, I'm very happy to see that the transgender community has the support of

The following was sent to Alex Machaskee, publisher of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: Dear Mr. Machaskee,

I am writing to you to with a request that will enable Cleveland's only daily newspaper to serve a broader base of its readers.

My request is that the weekly column by Ms. Deb Price, available from Gannett, be included in our Plain Dealer. Her column uses an informative, yet non-preachy, approach covering gay and lesbian issues form a gay viewpoint. This column helps represent an underserved readership. The column runs in various papers across the country. The Detroit News is the paper closest to Cleveland.

Ms. Price's column has proved to have an appeal across a spectrum of readers in every paper it runs, not only gay readers.

I am thanking you in advance for your condsideration in this matter and feel the column would be a positive asset to the Plain Dealer.

Antoine E. Couture Cleveland

A bill of rights, not suggestions

To the Editors:

December 15, 1995 is the birthday of the ratification of our beloved Constitution. These ratifications are better known as the Bill of Rights. In a year when our Congress is struggling with decisions that affect our rights more than ever, the history and the need for the Bill of Rights seems to have been forgotten. As Thomas Jefferson said, "A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.

In the summer of 1787, delegates from the 13 colonies convened in Philadelphia to discuss how best to govern themselves. Out of the gathering came the Constitution of the United States, that remarkable blueprint of a new nation whose people had fought hard and valiantly to win their independence from England.

The first draft of the Constitution set up a system of checks and balances that included a strong executive, a representative legislature and a federal judiciary, as well as a division of federal and state powers. But contrary to the urging of some delegates, the framers did not include a specific declaration of rights. In other words, the Constitution specified what the government could do but did not say what the government could not do.

The Constitution was signed in September 1787 and sent to the Congress. Eleven Continued on page 10

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Volume 11, Issue 13

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Next Chronicle comes out Friday, January 12

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Holiday Break

The next issue of the Gay People's Chronicle will come out one week later than usual, on January 12, due to our holiday vacation. The every-other-Friday schedule will then resume, with the following issue appearing January 26.

The Chronicle offices will close on Friday, December 22, and reopen January 2.

The staff of the

Gay People's Chronicle would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday!