GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE JULY 3, 1998

Lobby, don't party

To the Editors:

COMMUNITY FORUM

The letter in the June 19 issue titled "A really big tea dance" [on the Millenium March on Washington] from Mr. Summersgill, is right on target.

I agree with his idea that organized efforts to face elected officials with the responsibility to be accountable is imperative for a democracy to flourish. The will of the people is brought to bear when those affected present reasoned arguments and demonstrate the actual conditions they live with. No involvement with the government simply brings about decisions made in ignorance, and the repercussions most times will be adverse to the majority. Vigilance and commitment to the ideals of inclusion wear down indifference and neglect, which is the very soil from which discrimination and power-mongering stem.

To take a position of martyrdom can be enticing as an option, but is a dangerous path to undertake.

It is, of course, necessary to educate the public at large about where and when injustice But free speech carries the responsibility to act on presenting arguments where change can be effected.

occurs.

The larger issue is that of the rights for all regarding access to basic needs: Education, health care, decent jobs, comparable wages and benefits, and the availability of advancement are at the core of real freedom.

In my view, the "right wing" uses the issues of sexual orientation and abortion as red herrings while they work to rob citizens of public property and access to the courts.

If particular groups choose to implement a self-imposed isolation because they view themselves as incapable of being incorporated into the larger community, then the whole point of acceptance is lost. That stance also weakens everyone who is working to implement policies that will ensure freedom.

Geri Chesler

Cleveland

A freeway epiphany

To the Editors:

Last Sunday I was driving my beat-up car from Cleveland to the Columbus Pride festival. As I zoomed down I-71 South, keeping one eye on my temperature gauge and the other on the road, scanning for cops, all I could think of was, “Why am I doing this?" I'm so tired of Lesbigay Pride events, of rainbow flags, bad drag and 99% humidity. Sweating my butt off, I fell deeper and deeper into whiny bitterness.

Around Mansfield I came upon a red pick-up truck with queer bumper stickers. As I passed the truck I waved at the guys in it, spreading homo cheer despite my thoughts of organizing "ShameFest '99" as soon as I got back home that night.

Well, about a half-hour more down the road I heard a beep from the passing lane. I looked over and saw the guys in the red pick-up. The one in the passenger seat was leaning way out the window, risking life and limb to hand me something. I kept my eyes on the road, stretched my arm nearly out of its socket to reach for this mystery gift.

I grabbed it and pulled it in, feeling a bit like Lori Singer in Footloose. It was a T-shirt. On the front was a pink triangle with the phrase "Lesbians, Gay Men and Bisexuals are: normal, loveable, essential, everywhere, good, courageous, innovators, trend-setters, faithful, funny, creative, etc."

After reading that message, my whole mood changed. Before, I was feeling really cynical and bored with the whole "Pride" thing, but then these great guys reminded me how fabulous, loving and fun my brothers and sisters in the struggle really are.

Thanks.

Christine Hahn Cleveland

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Obituary is premature

To the Editors:

The cover of the June 29, 1998 issue of Time magazine asks "Is Feminism Dead?" The articles inside answer the question with a resounding "Yes!" Perhaps a magazine that unapologetically promotes the sexist notion that men rule the world with their "Man of the Year" awards should be expected to sabotage feminism by pronouncing its demise. Maybe it's unreasonable to think that a publication touted among journalism's elite would bother to contact the country's largest feminist organization before writing the movement's obituary.

The National Organization for Women has a different answer to Time's question. While Time might wish that feminists and feminism would go away, we are far from dead! Feminism is vibrant and thriving and making unprecedented gains for women and girls.

From assembly lines to boardrooms, NOW has played a key role in winning victories for women plagued by discrimination in the workplace. NOW's Women-Friendly Workplace Campaign made historic breakthroughs in the highly visible sexual harassment cases against Mitsubishi and Smith Barney. When antiabortion terrorists attacked women's health clinics, NOW headed for the streets, the courts and Congress. We organized activists to stand up for women's rights and to defend clinics. We successfully sued the anti-abortion racketeers using the RICO [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations] statute. And we lobbied Congress to pass the Freedom to Clinic Entrances Act. NOW's unique approach of combining action in the streets with more conventional means of social change has resulted in key victories.

We are asking feminists across the country to stand up and be counted!

Tell Time that you, and the movement, are alive and well. Send a clear message that feminism is alive and Time is out of touch. There are several opportunities for you to speak out:

Send an e-mail message to the editor of Time at letters@time.com

Flood Time's snail-mail box and fax machine with letters of protest, at Letters, TimeLife Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, N.Y. 10020; or fax 212-522-8949.

Join NOW and sign-up your friends! You can join online at http://www.now.org/ member.html or via e-mail at now@now.org.

Patricia Ireland, Executive Director National Organization for Women Washington, D.C.

For religious freedom

The following was sent by ACLU director Ira Glasser to Gary L. Bauer, president of the Family Research Council:

Dear Mr. Bauer:

In a piece entitled "James Hormel: Mythical Man," you charge that James Hormel is anti-Christian and anti-religious, and that he is not a true philanthropist because his giving is primarily directed toward securing the basic rights of lesbians and gay men. To back up both of these claims, you point to his support of the American Civil Liberties Union. You should be ashamed of yourself, because you know very well that Mr. Hormel's contributions to the ACLU support neither of your claims.

The ACLU, far from having “a history of attacks against any expression of religious faith" is the nation's foremost defender of religious expression. Recently, the ACLU sued the City of Palm Beach, Florida to prevent it from removing religious symbols from the Boca Raton Community Cemetery.

The ACLU was one of the primary supporters of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which restored the tough protection the Constitution gave to religious expression until a 1990 Supreme Court decision watered that protection down. We vigorously defended the Restoration Act in the lower courts and in the Supreme Court, which unfortunately struck it down last year.

The ACLU could not be prouder of its record on defending religious expression.

James Hormel supports the ACLU because he believes in freeexpression for all views, including all religious views.

GAN PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Volume 14, Issue 1

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Mr. Hormel has supported the ACLU's work to establish the civil rights of lesbians and gay men, and that work is unquestionably charitable just as the closely related work of the ACLU to establish and preserve the civil rights of women, people of color and people of faith is charitable.

But the $600,000 pledge you mention, which Mr. Hormel made in response to a specific request from the ACLU, in fact goes to an unrestricted fund which supports neither our Lesbian and Gay Rights nor our Reproductive Freedom Projects, but instead supports all the basic rights work we do, including our work for freedom of expression and freedom of religion.

Mr. Hormel made that specific pledge when we asked for it because his commitment to civil liberties is sweeping, as his record over decades clearly shows. No objective examination of Mr. Hormel's long record could truthfully conclude that his set of goals are neither narrow or sectarian. Indeed, that description better describes your agenda than his. Far from having the narrow set of goals you suggest, Mr. Hormel's vision of liberty and justice is as all encompassing as the Bill of Rights itself. That is why he supports the ACLU, and that is why we are proud to have his support.

Community Forum

Ira Glasser New York City

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