8 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE May 17, 2002

letters tothe editor

Sing Out Toledo

may

disband

To the Editors:

I would like to express a hearty congratulations to the North Coast Men's Chorus and the city willing to support them! Similar groups in Columbus and Cincinnati are also doing well. Again, congratulations to both singers and supporters.

In Toledo, however, our chorus is not faring as well, and a membership meeting at the end of the month may be the end of Sing Out Toledo.

I've been a singing member of Sing Out Toledo for five of its six years of existence. I've watched the quality of our performances improve steadily under the tutelage of three very wonderful directors. Sadly, Toledo has not been supportive of us.

We are down to 14 singers. Our fall concert, "Back to Broadway," brought in only about 45 people per show. The Christmas concert, which was free and located in the beautiful Great Gallery of the Toledo Museum of Art, was attended by only two dozen people. I only recognized half of these from our LGBT“community."

Our fans our loyal but few. Thanks to all who have been supportive!

Sing Out Toledo will be performing a Madrigal Fest as our spring concert at 3 pm on Sunday, May 19 at the Maumee Valley Country Day School; This will be followed by an appearance at the GALA Eastern Regional Festival in Cincinnati over the July 4 weekend.

However, these may be the last two appearances of Sing Out Toledo if the members decide to disband at the meeting at the end of May.

John Bucklew Gibsonburg, Ohio

DeWine is not 'hostile' to ENDA To the Editors:

We write to you today to take exception to your coverage of Senator Mike DeWine's position on the Employment Non Discrimination Act (ENDA).

Last week [May 3] the Gay People's Chronicle reported that Senator DeWine is "hostile" to the bill. This is simply not an accurate statement.

It is certainly true that Sen. De Wine was absent for the committee vote on ENDA on April 24 and that he voted against the ENDA bill that was introduced in the Senate in 1996. It would be wrong, however, to state that Sen. De Wine is "hostile" to the current version of the bill, as to date, he has not publicly stated his position on the legislation.

Local Human Rights Campaign volunteers, including the authors of this letter, as well as HRC's lobbying team in Washington, have for the last several months worked closely with Senator De Wine's office to educate him about ENDA and why it should become the law of the land. While it is frustrating that so far he has not stated a position one way or the other, we are certainly not giving up on pursuing a "yes" vote from him on the Senate floor.

We must not forget that Senator De Wine is being courted heavily by the right to vote against ENDA via hundreds of daily faxes, phone calls e-mails and letters. In addition, Senator De Wine has a history of keeping his positions on certain legislation unknown until a vote is taken. A recent example of this was his vote last month against drilling for oil in the Arctic

National Wildlife Refuge.

Since 1996 when he voted no on ENDA (a very different version of the bill), he has changed his stance on many issues, including his support of hate crime legislation in a similar committee vote and a floor vote last year. Senator DeWine also has been a leader on HIV/AIDS issues in the Senate and a co-sponsor of the Ryan White CARE Act.

We believe Senator DeWine can become a supporter of the current ENDA legislation as well. But he will not become a supporter through inaccurate reporting or assumptions about his position.

Instead if assuming his "hostility" to ENDA, our community must counter the messages he is receiving from the right and continue to send him letters, faxes and e-mails, and continue to call his office and ask for his support.

If in the end, Senator DeWine publicly announces his opposition to ENDA or votes against the current bill on the Senate floor, it would be appropriate for the Chronicle to report that he is "hostile" and for all of us to call and write him to express our disappointment. Until then however, no one should give up on Senator De Wine's support of this important legislation, especially this newspaper.

Tim Downing Member, Board of Governors Cleveland Steering Committee Co-Chair John Farina Political Committee Chair Human Rights Campaign Cleveland

GAY PEOPLE'S

Chronicle

Volume 17, Issue 46

ISSN

Publisher: Martha J. Pontoni Managing Editor: Patti Harris Associate Editor: Brian DeWitt Editorial Board: Brian DeWitt, Christine Hahn, Patti Harris, Martha Pontoni

Staff Reporters: Anthony Glassman, Heather Gmucs, Janet Macoska, Eric Resnick

Reporters & Writers:

Doreen Cudnik, Mubarak S. Dahir, John Graves, Mark J. Huisman, Kaizaad Kotwal, M.T. Martone, Jeffrey Newman, Kirk Read, Bob Roehr, Harriet L. Schwartz, Rex Wockner, Andrea Wood, Jeff Woodard, John Zeh Art Director: Christine Hahn Photographers: Janet Macoska, Eve Muzic

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communitygroups

The lake and river beckons the GIFT cruise

by Jim Gruzosky

Cleveland-Spring has sprung. The trees are almost in full leaf, the flowers and bushes are in bloom, the air is fresh with pollen and the lake water is quickly warming. Mother Nature has again set the stage for the kick-off event of summer, the Cleveland Gay Invitational Fellowship

GAY PEOPLE'S.

Tournament Cruise on the Goodtime III. Mark your calendars for Saturday, June 8. It all begins at 7 pm when the gates open for boarding. The ship leaves the dock at 7:30 sharp--yes, it's a gay event but "G.S.T." does not applyfor a 21⁄2 hour cruise on the

Chronicle

Cuyahoga River and along the Lake Erie shore. There will be great dance music and

G.I.F.T.

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yet passengers will be able to escape to the topmost level to enjoy good conversation or solitude with someone

special, or to just commune with nature. Watch for posters at your favorite watering hole and at the Lesbian-Gay Community Center. Tickets will be available at the establishments for $20 cash. GIFT has added the convenience of Visa and Mastercard payments by calling either 216631-9811 or 216-749-2152 or by logging onto www.clevelandgift.org and clicking on the "cruise" button.

If the cruise has not sold out before it starts boarding, tickets will be sold at the gate on a fist come, first serve basis until we reach full capacity. Don't take the chance of missing the boat, buy your tickets early. ♡

Jim Gruzosky is the cruise director for GIFT.

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