GAY PEOPLE'S

Chronicle

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Ohio's Newspaper for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com Volume 24, Issue 7 September 26, 2008

Police seeking leads in pair of assaults

by Eric Sever

Cleveland-Police continue to follow leads in the beating and robbery of Edward "Eddie" Makar, but there are still no suspects in the assault.

Two men were arrested for another robbery near where Makar was attacked on August 30. Though the September 16 robbery did not seem to involve any antigay elements, the apprehended suspects fit the description of Makar's assailants.

Police asked Makar to look at a photo line-up, but he was unable to make any positive identification.

Though the process is frustrating for him, Makar says police stay in contact frequently. He knows they are following all leads, including a string of calls from his stolen cell phone, requesting a reward for its return.

"I just want to get on with my life," Makar commented.

Makar was stopped by three

African American men on West 117th St. just south of Clifton Blvd. as he walked home from the Hawk bar around 1:30 a.m. Makar says they got out of a car, dragged him into an alley, robbed him, and beat him with a baseball bat.

During the attack, they used the slur "faggot" several times.

Less than a month earlier, Jon Brittain was pistol-whipped in an attempted carjacking by two young white men near the Tool Shed bar in Ohio City. It is believed these suspects had been targeting gay men around west side bars in Cleveland.

Though there have been rumors about possible suspects or arrests, police said there have been no arrests in either case.

According to police reports, there have been 14 robberies and felonious assaults in 2008 in the First District, which includes the Hawk bar and Cleveland's far west neighborhoods. Out of those 14, four had gay victims.

Continued on page 5

ANTHONY GLASSMAN

PATTI HARRIS

Having a ball

North Coast Men's Chorus executive director Jim McPeak takes a break from manning his flea market table to show off some of his merchandise to fellow vendors Tracy Weller and Ken Wade. McPeak, left, set up his table at Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ's Festival of the Flea on September 20.

The small treasure was a shot glass with the inscription "Testicle Festival, Rock Creek Lodge, Montana” above a cartoon picture of a snorting bull. Below the image was emblazoned the statement, "I had a ball."

McPeak is known for having off-the-wall fare at the market, this year including the shot glass and a stuffed Humpty Dumpty figure. Last year's prized item was the Village People movie, Can't Stop the Music.

The church is catercorner from Lincoln Park in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, and the Festival of the Flea is timed to coincide with the Tremont Arts Fest, which radiates out from the center of the park.

Artists, artisans, craftspeople and community organizations rent out tables for the arts fest, selling their wares or raising awareness of their causes.

Some of the organizations participating this year included the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, the Cleveland Play House and the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, while art ranged from nature photographs to sculptures of fairies.

-Anthony Glassman

These boots were made for sunny days

Donna Mogavero rocks her completely superfluous rubber boots onstage at the Ohio Lesbian Festival on September 13. Joining Mogavero are performers Robin Stone and Alexis Antes.

Around 650 people turned out for the festival just east of Columbus, which featured workshops, presentations and over 22 acts on three stages throughout the day.

Organizer Chris Cozad was happy with the way the 19th annual installment went.

"I think we had a great day," she said. "Things went really smoothly, we had beautiful weather and a nice crowd."

"It would have been nice to have had more people there, but I knew that the weather was bad up north, Continued on page 4

Inside This Issue

All that Glitters is ... meh Poge &

Barack Obama speaks on DOMA, 'don't ask,' and torture

Page 2

Letters to the Editors................ 6

Charlie's Calendar

Comics

Classifieds....