OCTOBER 25, 1996 GAY PEOPLE's ChroniCLE
11
SPEAK OUT
We must outgrow 'ostrich politics' in Toledo
by Pam Allen-Thompson
Who suffers most from the head-in-thesand approach, the politicians or the gay, lesbian, and bisexual community? Guess how many candidates in Lucas County responded to the Gay People's Chronicle surveys that
were sent to every single person running for public office? Right-a big ostrich egg, zilcho.
Is this lack of response a reflection of the general plague of apathy that cripples this blue-collar city, or is it homophobia?
Is it not curious that some candidates have
I'm going to make the Quilt panel you didn't want
Larry Kolke was a good friend of hadn't fought with all the power in the world Chronicle publisher Martha Pontoni. Dur-
ing the last year of his life, he lived with her, and she took care of him when his health
failed. This letter was writ-
ten a week ago, shortly after she returned from the October 11-13 Quilt display.
Dear Larry,
I went to Washington, D.C. last week to see the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt; something I thought I would never do again. Like you, I had grown cynical about the Quilt and its purpose, not visiting again until my lover wanted me to accompany her.
I remember you told me before you died in 1992 how you didn't want a panel. You
thought that the organizers had made their point, and should just send the Quilt to a museum and move on.
I first realized that we were both wrong when I found myself nervously thumbing though the directory, hopeful that someone had disobeyed your orders and made you that panel after all. Your name was nowhere to be found. Your absence boomed across the mall with a defining sound. It was as if you never existed, that you weren't felled by the most monstrous disease of our times, that you
to survive.
I walked through the panels, looking for names I knew. I was slightly disgusted at my
urge to call out after finding a celebrity's panel, after all, this wasn't the sidewalk in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater. Watching mothers dust the panels of their sons, children being near their fathers once again, and friends visiting friends, I missed you. I wanted to sit by your panel as others were doing with their loved ones. I wanted to remember the fight, fill you in on the gossip, and just spend some time with you again. After all this time, I hope you have figured Continued on page 12
Working with Dole is part of Log Cabin's vision
by Rich Tafel
In the weeks following our decision to endorse the Dole-Kemp ticket, several selfdescribed non-partisan gay and lesbian political organizations have charged Log Cabin Republicans with being "pathologically partisan" and "immoral" in our decision to endorse.
While we expected criticism from those who fundamentally support the Democratic Party and its core philosophy, we believe that
building
a relationship with the Republican ticket is not only part and parcel of our mission, but it is critical for the entire gay and lesbian community now and beyond the 1996
elections.
Log Cabin Republicans is a partisan organization committed to educating the Republican Party on issues of concern to the gay and lesbian community. Education is accomplished in many ways. For example, when Republicans took over the U.S. Congress in 1994, many gay and AIDS activists claimed that critical federal AIDS programs, like the Ryan White CARE Act, would be "devastated," "eviscerated" and "eliminated," the same kind of hysterical rhetoric now being used by non-partisan gay political groups. Log Cabin Republicans, however, announced only days after the elections in NoNember 1994 that the reauthorization and Funding of the Ryan White CARE Act would
our top legislative priority. We immedi ely began building on our strong ties to the coming majority, cultivated throughout
throughout the 1994 election cycle while every other gay and lesbian organization supported the Democrats. We worked to assemble the support of the Republican governors for Ryan White. In January 1995, they voted unanimously at the National Governors Association to call on Congress to reauthorize Ryan White.
We lobbied Republican congressional offices before the new Congress convened and the leadership responded by scheduling hearings within the first 100 days (at which Log Cabin was the only gay and lesbian organization to testify) and revamping the funding formulas of benefit smaller and rural states. Not only did Congress end up reauthorizing Ryan White in a year of budget cuts, the Republicans increased its funding by 17 percent across the board.
The Ryan White CARE Act reauthorization is a prime example of the Log Cabin mission at work. Education and building ties with the GOP has always been at the core of our mission. The Republican Party will learn about our lives through gays within the GOP being visible, raising our voices and being at the table. We can not expect miracles to occur immediately, and sometimes we must be extremely critical of the GOP and certain officials. But Log Cabin takes the long view on educating the party.
Log Cabin has been working for more than a year to ensure a place within the GOP presidential nominee's campaign. Our guid-
Continued on page 12
solicited our votes, volunteerism, and checks, while cautioning us to please refrain from giving them public endorsement?
One candidate was even polite enough to call a local lesbian leader to explain her dilemma about whether or not to respond to the Chronicle survey: "I want the community to know that I 'get it,' but I can't respond to this survey because it will kill me in my district."
It is no secret that the queer community is a liability to the presidential candidates: Dole could not decide whether to take our money, and Clinton would not stand up for our equal civil rights. One would hope, though, that the lo-
cal
candidates
would appreciate a little more not only
what
gays, lesbi-
ans, and bisexuals
contribute to their communities, but
also what we can contribute to their campaigns.
standing developments can be seen in the areas of anti-homophobia education, coalition building, and public profile. For instance, network television solicited comments from gays and lesbians seven times in the past year, and features have appeared not only in local publications but also in the Advocate certainly a major step forward for a community that has long lived by the "don't ask, don't tell❞ rule.
In the past two years, 15 new GLBT organizations have sprung up (12 of which are still thriving) to augment Dignity and Lavender Triangle, pioneering organizations that
"I want the community to know that I'get it,' but I can't respond to this survey because it will kill me in my district."
Perhaps they do not know because we do not tell them. Candidates know very well that they will get in trouble if they support us, and they know, too, that there will be no consequences at all if they withhold their support.
We would do well to follow the example of Little L., a co-host of WXUT's Gay Talk Radio. Little L. went out of her way to catch Rep. Marcy Kaptur after a meeting and tell her that she did not appreciate the vote against us in the Defense of Marriage Act.
"But I don't believe in marriage for samesex couples," the unmarried representative said.
"It doesn't matter what you believe," said Little L. with a big bite, "I'm a taxpayer, too, and I deserve the same legal rights as anyone else."
Thanks, Little L., for bringing a voice to one of society's most silent minorities. Thanks, too, to P-FLAG Toledo for organizing a phone and letter campaign to Kaptur's office to let her know that her vote greatly disturbed a number of her constituents.
Thanks to P-FLAG again for heading up the statewide campaign to encourage all congressional candidates in Ohio to sign a pledge that they would refrain from negative comments about gays and lesbians during their campaign.
Thanks to Gays and Lesbians United for encouraging voter registration. Thanks to the coordinators of Rainbow Network for volunteering for Mobilization '96, the massive coalition effort led by Mandy Carter to get Jesse Helms out of office. Thanks to the Lesbian Political Action Group who reminded readers of the monthly publication TAGALA to vote, vote, vote.
So the queer community in Toledo has not been sleeping after all. Some good political engagement is happening, and some out-
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have survived for almost two decades. Pride month has witnessed northwest Ohio's second annual Pride March; and Freedom Fest, a GLBT music festival, has been initiated. Plans are in the works for a tri-state conference for people who are making outstanding contributions in winning acceptance for lesbians and gays.
Certainly queer Toledo is alive, but perhaps the community is suffering the inevitable growing pains of a community that is just beginning to shake off the sand and start looking around at what needs to be done.
Election year homophobia proves that there is still much to be done. There are countless ways we can make our candidates and elected officials aware of our concerns, individually and collectively. To do so we must get beyond our fear of the "P" wordpolitical. In my first year in Toledo, I heard at least a dozen times: "My group is not political," a disclaimer coming most often from religious groups as though the institution of religion itself were not extremely political.
Whether or not my group is "political," whether or not I want to give my hard-earned dollars to be wasted on the campaign frenzy, whether or not I tell the candidates in my district that it is important for them to respond to the Chronicle survey-the political process is still crucial, and from the looks of recent developments, it could have great bearing on my freedom to live without the harassment, discrimination, and violence that would haunt me because I am a lesbian.
Sometimes it appears that our straight allies in groups like P-FLAG and the ACLU are doing more to promote our equal rights than we are. We can change that.
Pam Allen-Thompson, Ph.D. is coordinator of the Rainbow Network, a coalition of fourteen GLBT organizations in northwest Ohio and co-editor, with her partner Di Allen-Thompson, of The Beloved and 'Bent': Families Learning to Accept Lesbians and Gays.