GAY PEOPLE'S

Chronicle

Ohio's Newspaper for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community • www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com Volume 24, Issue 2 July 18, 2008

City forces TG woman to dress in

men's room

by Eric Resnick

Cleveland-A city swimming pool has told a transgender woman that she must sign in as a man and use the men's locker room to change into her swimsuit.

Karen Deamons of Cleveland has been swimming at the Cudell Recreation Center on the city's west side since 2005. She swims there three times a week as part of her rehabilitation from a stroke

that year.

Deamons says that there has been tension between her and Cudell management since she started swimming at the facility. But it has escalated in the last month, resulting in her being barred for a week, then being required to sign the men's registry when she arrives.

She has filed a sex stereotyping complaint against the city of Cleveland. The complaint, filed June 24 with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, will be investigated by Gina Curry of the commission.

Deamons says she complied last year when Cudell told her to use the men's changing room, but “it's getting harder and harder" mostly because of the children at the facility.

During the day, Cudell is used primarily by children. It was built in 1964 and the men's locker room has no doors on the stalls and no privacy in the changing area.

But the women's locker room does have doors on the stalls, Deamons said, and she prefers to change in one of them.

Continued on page 7

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ANTHONY GLASSMAN

Jamie Moore, on bended knee, proposes to his boyfriend Tim Scott at the Cleveland LGBT Center's Garden Party. Scott said yes.

Proposal tops garden party benefit

by Anthony Glassman

Cleveland-An al fresco proposal was one of the high points of the July 13 Garden Party, the traditional summer fundraiser for the Cleveland LGBT Center.

Jamie Moore and Tim Scott's betrothal followed brief speeches from both the hosts, Meg Doerr and Dan Bode, and from Elizabeth Kucinich, chair of the host committee and wife of Rep. Dennis Kucinich.

Doerr and Bode explained that their love for each other, a married heterosexual couple, was no more joyful or important than the love their LGBT friends shared with their partners, which was part of the reason they opened their East Side lakefront home to the event.

Elizabeth Kucinich, striding to the patio-stage like Boudica in a sundress, expressed her love and support of the gay community, with whom she surrounded herself in her native England and who became her first family here in the United

States. She explained that Doerr had actually said much of what she would have, but continued on to remark on the instant love she felt for her politico husband and lamenting the inequality in marriage laws.

Live and silent auctions featuring lavish items like a vintage cocktail gift set, an antique recruiting poster donated by Bill Tregoning, trips to Mexico, Arizona and New York, other art work, services and gift baskets raised almost $11,000.

The live auction and the brief

program, in which sponsorship coordinator Mary Zaller was honored and presented with a vintage dress and clutch, were the only interruptions in the summery jazz provided by the Theron Brown Duo, who were at times joined by Dan Bode on harmonica and vocals. The most poignant number was a rendition of Gershwin's "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess.

A variety of hearty summer fare provided by Dish Global Catering and an open bar combined with the unfaltering sunshine and cool lake

Inside This Issue

breeze to keep the party going strong even after its scheduled end time of 6 pm.

Nearly 200 people attended the event, which ended up with a profit of $20,000 for the Cleveland LGBT Center.

"This was our best event ever," said executive director Sue Doerfer. "The homeowners, Meg and Dan, were incredible, the setting was amazing and the weather was beautiful."

"We couldn't have asked for anything better!"

Body Language is being sold

Page 3

Brothers playing brothers Page 8

Community Groups Charlie's Calendar ....... Classifieds .....

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ERIC RESNICK

Karen Deamons

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