OPEN ROADS

AIDS Walk wasn't about politics, or 'the controversy'

by Thom Sommers

AIDS Walk '96 promised to be the largest walk for AIDS in Central Ohio's history, boasting a record of more than 1,400 walkers despite the rains-and “the controversy."

As I sat, cramped in the sultry Greyhound bus, watching as small green mile marker signs passed by the window, I began thinking about "the controversy.” Remembering the letters I had read in recent weeks, I tried to make sense of it all, put it into some sort of perspective. I simply could not.

LIFE

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Her daughter is HIV positive, and so is her granddaughter. Each one of these people was there for a reason. It wasn't about money, it was about understanding, remembering, and supporting.

Walking by a popular coffee house on High Street I began to wonder about the people sitting on the inside. Don't they think that this is real? Don't they understand it could happen to someone they love, to them? People sitting, watching, and chatting while others are out fighting for acceptance, fighting for services, fighting for their lives!

AIDS LOVE

Pulling into downtown Columbus, I began to question the accusations of those who threatened the success ofthe walk. Prior to the May 5 event, protesters were writing letters to the editor calling for people to boycott the fundraiser. The main concern for this group appeared to focus on the distribution of funds from AIDS Walk '96 and the belief that this was somehow all about money, politics, and egos. Although the pre-walk attention may have been shifted, based upon the preliminary results I believe the reputable event will be almost unscathed by the unfavorable actions of few.

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OPEN ROADS

Arriving at Bicentennial Park for the Sunday event, the clouds began to roll in as local news anchor Andrea Camburn of WBNS-TV introduced the Columbus Gay Men's Chorus. As the chorus sang "You Will Never Walk Alone," I looked around and suddenly it all became very clear to me. AIDS Walk '96 wasn't about money, it was about 1,400 people coming together representing themselves, the communities in which they live, and their shared concern for the crisis we call AIDS.

As I stood quietly in the grass, I saw a group of about nine or ten small children, all wearing in-line skates and red ribbons embroidered on their ball caps. They were standing waiting for the walk to begin. This crisis is older than they are. I found one woman tightly hugging a friend, weeping, possibly for the man whose picture hung from her coat. Standing in front of me, arm in arm, was a mother and her daughter.

Complacency is something I fear. When people become complacent the messages will be lost, the urgency will dissipate. AIDS has been classified as a national health emergency! Some of the people sitting inside that coffee house may have a very legitimate reason for watching as others fight the battles and the war, but it is the ones that don't whom I fear.

I was fortunate enough to walk with a large group of friends, some of them straight, some of them gay, some of them positive, and even some of them negative. Strolling past Goodale Park, I seemed to realize, all at once, that this is happing to me, to us! I remembered the long list of people who have died from AIDS and those that are going to die. I remembered my brother Mike. I thought about how many more walks we will have to walk and how many more fundraisers we will have to attend before it stops, before the dying, the despair, and the pain will stop.

AIDS Walk '96 was not about politics, it was about people coming together creating funding for nine AIDS service organizations, and coming together to demonstrate their support for the impact this disease has had on Central Ohio. I can only hope that other cities will follow the strong leadership that brought those nine organizations together to provide this great event of remembrance and opportunity. Hats off to the dedicated planning committee of AIDS Walk '96, Columbus Walks For Life. Thank You!

COMMUNITY GROUPS

Add lesbians and gays to Ohio's hate crime law

by Bill Henderson

It is not a crime to have thoughts of hate in Ohio, nor would clear-thinking Ohioans want people penalized for speech based on hate, unless it was malicious libel or slander.

But, thankfully, it is a crime in Ohio to seek to hurt someone simply because you hate them. These protections of the rights of individuals are the mortar that binds the foundation of freedom in America.

In Ohio and 36 other states, a person who commits an assault where the victim's skin color, national origin, ethnic background, or religion is the motivation, will pay a stiffer penalty than if the assault was not motivated by hate.

These "enhanced penalty" laws are intended to protect against crimes motivated by factors over which the victim has no control. In 16 of these states, but not in Ohio, this includes sexual orientation.

It is time to add sexual orientation and disability to the protected classes under Ohio's ethnic intimidation law. It is time to clarify that there is a distinct difference between the freedom to dislike lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Ohioans, and hate-motivated actions meant to damage them.

If the state truly supports the rights of all individuals to have redress against hate motivated crimes, why has sexual orientation-

one of the primary reasons for bigotry-been omitted from the list? Doesn't any hate motivated crime call for an enhanced penalty?

House Bill 257 would add sexual orientation, disability, and ancestry to the existing law. It would also be extended to cover hate motivated crimes instigated by a group or an organization, such as the Ku Klux Klan.

We hope to have public testimony heard on House Bill 257, which has been stalled in the Judiciary Committee. You can easily help. Please write your local newspaper an editorial letter urging readers to write or call their state representative to support H.B. 257. Also call, write, or visit your representative and House Judiciary Chair Edward Kasputis, Ohio House of Representatives, 77 South High Street, Columbus 43266; 614-466-0961.

Send a copy of your letter to State Rep. Otto Beatty, the sponsor of H.B. 257. He can use it to show support to other House members.

Beatty is pursuing the option of attaching his bill to other related bills being considered by the House. Because the House will recess for the summer at the end of May, this strategy has just a few weeks to work.

For more information about volunteering in this effort, or to send a donation to support this work and to support candidates who like you just as you are, contact Susan Bader, Legislative Liaison, Ohioans Against Discrimination, 250 E. Broad St. Columbus 43215.

MAY 17, 1996

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 11

CLEVELAND

PRIDE '96

PIER PARK

Saturday, June 15, 1996

8th Annual Lesbian, Gay, Bi Pride

Parade & Festival

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Parade: 11am Assembly at E. 22 & Euclid 11:30 Rally. 12Noon Stepoff!

Festival: 12:30-6pm Pier Park behind the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!

Dancing Food Court

Music▼ Dancing

Beer Garden

Over 70 Vendors on the Triangle!

Lots of grass, bring blankets & frisbees

Main Stage: GEORGIA RAGSDALE Eric Brouman, Anne E. DeChant And Much More!!!

Guest Emcee: FRANCES STEVENS, Publisher of Curve magazine

Eric Brouman

GEORGIA RAGSDALE

gray

Anne E. DeChant

It's not too late to get involved!! We still welcome floats, vendors. entertainment. volunteers, sponsors!!

Sponsors: CURKA

ALICE PAUL.

PRINTERS AND

MAIL SERVICE

magazine

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GAPHOLES CHRONICLE

American Express Financial Group

Cleveland Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual Pride, Inc.⚫ 216/371-9714⚫ Box 91031, Cleve 44101