GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE October 29, 2004

letters tothe editor

It could happen here

To the Editors:

"Ignore your rights and they'll go away." When I saw this bumper sticker, it hit a nerve. Certainly that could not happen in America. We are far too civilized and our rights too firmly encased in law.

Seventy-five years ago, in another civilized country, other fair-minded citizens were thinking the same thing. A right-wing party had come to power through apparently legal means. Quietly, it began installing its own party members by any means necessary into state legislatures and key political positions throughout the country. It formed alliances with the military and industrial leaders by promising them order and prosperity, again by any means necessary.

Then it used military aggression against other nations to acquire territory and plunder resources. This militarism served to restore national pride, unify its people, eliminate unemployment and stabilize the economy. However, at the same time, civil rights were disappearing. Citizens of a different religious faith, sexual “deviants,' the mentally incompetent, Gypsies and the politically incorrect were persecuted, disenfranchised, then exterminated.

We are at a crucial place in history. We can stand up to the forces that are poised to repeat such injustices and cruelties, or we can stand by and allow it to happen. Please vote November 2. Vote as if your life depended on it.

Barbara Bowley Cleveland

Tell friends, family to vote no on 1

To the Editors:

We all agree that State Issue 1 is an insidious and vulgar attack on Ohio's constitution and the gay community. In the few days remaining until the election, I hope we can convince every gay and lesbian in Ohio of the importance of voting and rejecting this pro-

posal.

However, our appeal to shoot down Issue 1 should not be limited to the LGBT community. We also need to reach out to fair-minded voters in the straight community who are not aware of the damage they will do to themselves if Issue 1 passes. Issue 1 will prohibit benefits for even straight unmarried couples, for those who want to own property together, and may even punish our senior citizens who want to pool their pension resources together.

The biggest hit from Issue 1 will be to our state's economy. Crain's Cleveland Business called this proposed amendment “anti-business and anti-competitive." Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman called Issue 1 "a ticking time bomb" and Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro said its vague language will release a flurry of lawsuits. Good for lawyers, bad for business.

Join the Cleveland Stonewall Democrats, the American Association of Retired People, League of Women Voters, and many political and professional organizations and individuals in voting against Issue 1. Encourage your friends and family, gay and straight, to vote against this discriminatory and vengeful amendment.

Dale Giesige, President Log Cabin Republicans of Cleveland

The future of the Supreme Court

To the Editors:

The upcoming election will determine whether our nation moves forward on the issues of the humanity, dignity, and equality for gay Americans, or if we begin a tragic process of going backwards. The future of the Supreme Court hangs in the balance, and with it, the direction our nation will take on many issues, including gay rights.

Over the next four years, it is quite likely that Justices John Paul Stevens and Sandra Day O'Connor, as well as Chief Justice William Rehnquist, will retire. The next president, either George W. Bush or John Kerry, will be nominating any replacements needed for the court.

On the issue of justice for gay Americans,

community groups

OSU groups host discussion of Gloria Anzaldua's work

by Brett Beemyn

Columbus-Gloria Anzaldúa, who described herself as a "Chicana, tejana, working-class, dyke-feminist poet and writer-theorist," passed away in California on May 15.

In her honor, students, faculty and staff at Ohio State University are holding a panel discussion on Anzaldúa and her work, which includes the highly influential anthologies

Ohio State University

This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, Making Face, Making Soul/Haciendo Caras: Creative and Critical Perspectives by Women of Color and the groundbreaking text Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. The event will be held on Thursday, November 4 from 45:30 pm at the Frank Hale Center, 153 West 12th Ave. on the OSU campus.

The panel will consist of several faculty members: Nina Ha, visiting assistant profes-

sor in comparative studies; Catriona Esquibel, assistant professor in women's studies; Pat Enciso, associate professor of teaching and learning; and Patricia Burdette, lecturer, English.

Also participating in the event will be Aurora Levins Morales, a Puerto Rican and Jewish feminist poet, historian, and activist. Levins Morales' most recent books are Remedios: Stories of Earth, Iron from the

History of Puertorriqueñas, a retelling of history through Latina eyes, and Medicine Stories, a collection of essays on cultural activism and the power of radical history. A reception will be held afterward.

The program is organized by Latino/a Studies and GLBT Student Services, along with other sponsors

For more information, contact GLBT Student Services at 614-688 8449 or glbtss@osu.edu.

Brett Beemyn is the coordinator of OSU's GLBT Student Services office.

a Kerry or Bush presidency will make all the difference, not for the next four years, but for the next forty. A president's term lasts for only four years, but a Supreme Court justice is appointed for life.

On so many issues, I believe George Bush has made the wrong choices. But as a gay man, I am fully aware that the choice I make as to who I want to run our nation over the next four years will have a profound influence on the lives of all GLBT people. If the Republicans maintain control of Congress and the presidency, the next four years could end the progress we have made in Supreme Court recognition of equal protection and due process for gay Americans.

To GLBT people who either sit out the election, or vote for Ralph Nader or George W. Bush, you cannot say, "I didn't know," or "Nobody told me."

I am telling you now: if Bush gets a second term, it is likely that many of the gains we have fought so hard for since the dark days of Stonewall will be reversed, and our struggle for equality will be postponed for generations.

Right now, the Supreme Court is narrowly divided on crucial issues concerning gay rights. Just one or two new right-wing justices like Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomasthe justices who President Bush has called his models for Supreme Court appointmentswould reverse the progress made on gay rights over the last decade, and could make further progress through the courts virtually impossible.

One more justice like Scalia and Thomas on the court would likely reverse the landmark ruling in the Texas sodomy case, allowing states to once again treat gay men and lesbians as criminals. Two more Scalia-Thomas votes would also reverse a Supreme Court decision overturning an anti-gay constitutional amendment in Colorado, and would allow states to abolish local laws against discrimination based on sexual orientation. And of course, any hope for gaining federal rights for gay couples, even those with a Massachusetts marriage license or a Vermont civil union, would disappear.

Furthermore, most Supreme Court observers agree that a President George W. Bush, given the opportunity, would replace a retiring Chief Justice Rehnquist with Antonin Scalia.

During oral arguments in Lawrence v. Texas, Justice Scalia actually suggested that with gay kindergarten teachers, "children might be induced to become homosexuals." In his dissent in this case that struck down the Texas sodomy law, Scalia accused the majority on the court of "largely signing on to the so-called homosexual agenda."

The appointments George Bush has made to the lower courts have already had devastating effects on our issues. Bush's appointment of William Pryor, who in past comments compared homosexuality to necrophilia, provided a key vote in July against three homosexual couples challenging Florida's law banning adoption by gays and lesbians. Had Pryor not been placed on the 11th Circuit Court, the vote would have gone 6-5 in favor of the couples' request to have their case reconsidered.

I cannot stress more the importance of this election to GLBT Democrats, Republicans, independents, Libertarians, Greens, Naderites, and all other factions of our community. Unless we wake up to the news on Wednesday that John Kerry will become our 44th president, we could very well be facing a Scalialed Supreme Court that views the humanity and civil rights of gay people as unworthy of any consideration by the nation's highest judicial voice.

This election is about far more than who will control the White House for the next four years. It is about decisions the Supreme Court will issue that will affect us for generations to come. The good news is that in a close election, which this promises to be, GLBT voters, our families and allies have the power to give Senator Kerry his margin for victory. But this will only happen if we get the word out, and vote on or before November 2, as if our civil rights and liberties depend on it. They do.

Mayor David N. Cicilline Providence, Rhode Island

GAY PEOPLE'S

Chronicle

Volume 20, Issue 18

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, Janet Macoska, Mika Major, Eric Resnick

Reporters & Writers:

Mubarak S. Dahir, John Graves, Kaizaad Kotwal, Bob Roehr, Rex Wockner, John Zeh

Art Director: Christine Hahn Photographers: Janet Macoska, Becky McMahon

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Rivendell Media 212-242-6863 David A. Ebbert 800-426-5947 displayads@chronohio.com

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