10 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE April 30,
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San Francisco mayor to speak at Cleveland HRC dinner
Cleveland-Over 900 greater Clevelanders are expected to attend the Sixth Annual Cleveland Human Rights Campaign Dinner, which has become one of the largest black-tie events in the Cleveland area and one of the largest HRC dinners in the country. The event takes place May 1, in the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel.
San Francisco mayor Willie Brown will deliver the keynote address at the event.
Willie Brown
Described by Newsweek magazine as "one of the 25 most dynamic mayors in America," Brown is San Francisco's first AfricanAmerican mayor, and perhaps the most influential African-American elected official in the United States.
On his way to becoming mayor of one of the greatest, and certainly most gay and lesbian-friendly, cities in the country, Brown worked as a janitor, a crop harvester, and a messenger. He arrived in San Francisco from a small, racially segregated Texas town with little more than a cardboard suitcase.
He worked his way through college, graduating from the San Francisco State University of Law, and built a thriving law practice amid the civil rights struggles of the tumultuous 1960s.
Brown was elected to the California Assembly in 1964 and was re-elected 16 times, serving a total of 31 years. In 1980, he was elected Speaker of the Assembly, second in power only to the governor. The state's only African-American speaker, he held the post for an unprecedented 15 years. Brown was sworn in as San Francisco's 40th mayor in 1996.
According to demographic resources, Overlooked Opinions and Voter News Service (CNN and the Associated Press), African-American voters comprise the largest minority voting bloc in America, at 10.1%. Gay, lesbian and bisexual voters comprise
the second-largest voting bloc at 5%.
The theme of the May 1 dinner, "Outreachout," is intended to increase awareness of issues affecting lesbian and gay Americans. HRC's mission is to bring equal--not special--rights to all people.
Cleveland dinner co-chairs Tim Downing and Jean Tutolo said Brown was selected as keynote speaker in recognition of his longterm commitment to human and civil rights.
Red Wing will also speak
Donna Red Wing, HRC's national field director, will join mayor Willie Brown at the HRC dinner, and will also address the crowd.
Earlier this month, Red Wing was honored in New York City by the Interfaith Alliance with its annual Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom award. She received the award in recognition of her work with the Faith and Fairness Coalition, which she created in 1997. The coalition has provided a compassionate faith-based response to the religious right's anti-gay rhetoric.
Red Wing developed the groundbreaking Interfaith Service at the biennial OutVote political convention in September 1998. That event brought together religious leaders and activists from a wide array of religious traditions in a Sunday morning worship service.
DOREEN CUDNIK
Denna Red Wing
Red Wing has a long history of working for gay and lesbian equality. Before joining HRC in 1996, she was a senior consultant to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. She is also GLAAD's former field director and community affairs director.
She is perhaps best known for her work in Oregon to defeat Measure 9, a virulently anti-gay ballot measure that would have amended Oregon's constitution to declare homosexuality "abnormal and perverse.” As a result of her efforts, the Advocate magazine
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named Red Wing its 1992 Woman of the Year.
As a result of her efforts, she was given another title by religious right leaders: The Most Dangerous Woman in America. To this day, she wears the title proudly. Center to receive Equality Award
The Lesbian-Gay Community Service Center of Cleveland will be the recipient of this year's Equality Award, which will be given at the dinner. The Equality Award is presented each year to a person or group who has demonstrated long-term leadership and commitment to the gay and lesbian community in Cleveland and throughout Ohio. The center has been in operation since 1975,
providing needed information, resources, support and advocacy to Northeast Ohio's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive community. A nationally recognized leader in grassroots organizing, the center works with key national, regional and local organizations, law enforcement officials, media outlets and community leaders to improve the quality of life for thousands of Clevelanders, regardless of sexual orientation.
The center remains largely a volunteerdriven agency with over 165 dedicated volunteers providing much of the direct community outreach, fund-raising, and administrative assistance.
Tickets are $175 and still available by calling 440-779-6444.
Ohio Episcopalians attend New York conference
by Scott Larsen
'New York-Gay and lesbian Episcopalians from around Ohio attended a three day conference April 15-18 hosted by Beyond Inclusion, a lesbian and gay ministry of the Episcopal Church, to hear speakers talk about working together, claiming the church and someday see same-sex unions and ordinations.
Episcopalians from Cincinnati, Toledo and Batavia, Ohio attended the conference held at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in the chic neighborhood along Park Ave. and 50th Streets.
said Cathryn Piccard of Charlestown, Mass. "Marriage needs to be a right in more ways than one," said the Rev. Patti Ackerman, rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Patterson, N.Y., and the director of communications for Integrity.
Byham clarified that he only meant to start the debate on whether or not gays and lesbians should press the issue of same-sex unions and openly gay and lesbian ordinations at next year's convention, or choose another course of action.
"Holy Communion is open to all without exception," said the Rev. Ed Bacon, rector of All Saint's, Pasadena. Bacon, who is a straight, married man, added, "If we are
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Dr. Col. Grethe Cammermeyer, Ph.D., R.N., USA (Ret.), was the keynote speaker at the conference banquet. Her story of coming out as a lesbian while serving in the Washington State National Guard is told in her book Serving in Silence. A made-for-television movie starring Glenn Close with the same name was produced by Barbra Streisand and is now out on video.
"It is interesting to see the pockets of hope in the church," said Mark Fink, in hearing how other Episcopal parishes and dioceses are dealing with gay and lesbian issues in the denomination. Fink is a research fellow at the Univer-
sity of Toledo and member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Toledo.
"I didn't want to go to a gay church," Fink said, referring to predominately gay churches or denominations like Metropolitan Community Church, which was founded in California by openly gay minister Rev. Troy Perry. "I wanted to go to a church which accepted me as gay." Fink said he joined the Episcopal church after meeting his partner, who already was a member.
A total of 245 people from around the country attended the conference. Three bishops attended as well as 47 individuals who identified as priests from 27 states.
Various workshops from "Navigating Life in a Diocese as a Gay-Lesbian Child of God". to "Being Single in a Couples World" were held during two days of the three day confer-
ence.
Next year the Episcopal church holds its triannual General Convention in Denver. Conservatives are looking toward adopting the Lambeth Resolution on Sexuality which states, among other things, that "homosexuality is incompatible with Scripture."
"It's a question of timing to cash in our chips," said Kim Byname of Guttenberg, N.J., who attended Lambeth and has coordinated Integrity's presence at the last four Episcopal conventions. Integrity is a consortium of Gay and Lesbian Episcopal chapters from around the U.S. It is the advocacy group for gays and lesbians in the Episcopal Church.
But two individuals took exception to Byname's "sit tight" example.
"At the age of four I figured out how to get more" from someone is to "ask for more"
going to change things, change things here," referring to changing the attitudes at the parish level toward gays and lesbians. "My head is spinning," said Rebecca Omahan, director of Beyond Inclusion of Pasadena, Calif. "I think it was fabulous.” "It couldn't have ended on a higher note," she added, in reference to Cammermeyer's remarks and the music of Lavender Light, a black and people of all color lesbian and gay gospel choir, following the Saturday banquet.
Along with gay and lesbian Episcopalians from Toledo there were members of Cincinnati's Church of Our Saviour who attended the conference, as well as representation from Batavia. Both St. Mark's and Our Saviour parishes had informational tables at St. Bartholomew's Church.
Position papers by three distinguished Episcopalians were presented at the conference by Dr. Deirdre J. Good, professor of New Testament at General Theological Seminary in New York; the Rev. Dr. Renee L. Hill, senior associate for Peace and Justice at All Saint's, in Pasadena, Calif., and the Rights Rev. Bennett J. Sims, retired bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta.
The topics of the papers were "The Use of the Bible in Debates About Same-Sex Unions," "Homophobia, Racism, Sexism: A Complex Design," and "From Convention to Conviction" by Good, Hill and Sims respectively. ♡
Scott Larsen is a freelance writer living in Seattle. He covers faith and religion for several regional GLBT newspapers.
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