GAY PEOPLE'S

Chronicle

Ohio's Newspaper for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community

Volume 24, Issue 3 August 1, 2008

MIKE KELLEY

Group drops opposition to sick leave act

by Eric Resnick

Columbus

Ohio's statewide

LGBT advocacy group has backed off its opposition to a sick leave initiative likely to be on the November ballot.

Equality Ohio's board of directors voted at their July 19 meeting to change its position on the proposed Healthy Families Act from "active opposition" to "neutrality.".

The act would require Ohio employers with 25 or more workers to provide at least seven paid sick days a year. This includes leave to care for a legally married spouse who is ill-but not an unmarried partner, either same-sex or opposite sex. A non-biological parent can also take time off to care for a child.

Ohioans for Healthy Families, a coalition led by the Service Employees International Union, drew up the initiative and is circulating petitions, which they must submit by August 4.

Lawmakers rejected the proposal in May, which prompted the petition drive. If there are enough valid signatures, the matter will go to the voters.

Besides SEIU, the measure's cosponsors include the American Association of Retired Persons, Progress Ohio, the Ohio Democratic Party and other labor and

workers' rights groups that often support LGBT equality.

However, Equality Ohio voted to oppose the measure in June, 2007, because its authors at SEIU excluded using sick leave to care for an unmarried domestic partner.

The Ohio initiative is part of a national effort whose model bill includes domestic partners.

SEIU spokesperson Jennifer Farmer said last year they were removed from the Ohio version to make the measure easier to pass. Most of the coalition partners were not part of the discussions leading to this.

Initially, SEIU also noted that Ohio's marriage ban amendment might prohibit including sick leave to care for a partner. They abandoned that when the Ohio Supreme Court ruled last summer that it only bars marriage and civil unions. But they didn't change the bill.

Equality Ohio Public Policy Committee chair Douglas Braun said director Lynne Bowman met with SEIU "ten days or a week" before the July 19 board meeting and came back with the "suggestion to go to neutral."

At press time, Bowman was on vacation and unavailable for comment.

However, Braun said that the board's decision came after a long

Continued on page 5

Where's to biweekly?

Newspaper moves

by Anthony Glassman

Readers have been calling, asking why they could not find a copy of the Gay People's Chronicle last week.

The answer is simple: The newspaper has returned to biweekly publication, publishing a new issue every other Friday.

From the time of its inception as a monthly newsletter in 1985, through to its first biweekly publication in 1993, being a weekly newspaper was seen as a gold standard. That was achieved in 1998. However, with a worsening economy and lowering advertising revenues, concerns about the feasibility of publishing 52 issues a year arose.

After many meetings and conversations and much deliberation, the various options for the newspaper's future resolved themselves into three main ideas.

The first, and least acceptable, was for everyone in involved to just walk away. Put the chairs up on the desks, turn off the lights, and lock the door.

Nobody was willing to leave Ohio, especially the northeast corner of the state, without a source of LGBT news.

The second option was to try to make a go of being an online-only resource. One of the main concerns with that idea was the difficulty in using a website to make money. Even though the expense of printing and distributing the newspaper would no longer be there, in all likelihood neither would be most of the advertising revenue. The final option was to cut back on the frequency of publication. A careful examination of the finances revealed that much--but not all of the fiscal shortfall can be ameliorated by publishing every other week, and that appears to be among the solutions. While it is a somewhat bitter pill to swallow after a decade of being Continued on page 5

Sue Kestranek, Monica Delgado, Tanya Morrow, Joan Crosby and Needra Moncrief squeeze in for a photo at the Black, Gay and Proud Bowling Party on July 5.

Enjoy a cruise, parties and a picnic at Black Gay and Proud

Cleveland-Northeast Ohio's African American LGBT community and their allies will gather this weekend for the eleventh annual Black Gay and Proud Celebration.

The weekend began with a Thursday jazz and poetry night at the AIDS Taskforce 3210 Euclid Ave.

The annual White Fantasia Party this year will be held on the Majestic party yacht, which sets off from the parking lot of Shooters on the west bank of the Flats at 9 pm Friday.

Dinner and a cash bar, along with music and dancing, are part of admission, but tickets will only be sold in advance. They are $40 per person, or $75 for a couple.

Unfortunately, the State of Black Gay America symposium,

slated for the morning of August 2 at the Red Cross, has been postponed until the fall. No further information is available yet.

The Sunday picnic has moved to

Gordon Park, off Lake Shore Blvd.

That won't stop the celebration, however, as DJ Robbie Robb will take care of the music at the Sweat Party on Saturday night. A $10 cover gains admission to two floors of festive fun at Flex, which will open its doors to women for

Inside This Issue

the event, held in a separate part of the facility from the remainder of the bathhouse.

Sweat starts at 9 pm and admission is $10. Flex is at East 26th St. and Hamilton Ave.

The following morning at 9 am, the gospel church service and brunch returns to Archwood United Church of Christ, 2800 Archwood Ave. noon by the Family rieni After being held for r years at Edgew. er Park and moving to Kiruand Park. in picnic now finds itself in the scenic Lakefront State Park (Gor don Park) just east of where Martin Luther King Jr. Drive ends at Lake Shore Boulevard, north of 1-90. The picnic, near the park headquarters at 8901 Lake Shore, continues until dusk.

For more information about any of the events, go to www.bgpcleveland.com.

Neighbor dispute turns ugly with anti-gay epithets

Page 2

Letters to the Editors................ 7

Shaken, stirred, whatever Page 8

Charlie's Calendar ......... Comics

Classifieds