GAY PEOPLE'S

Chronicle

A delighted dozen

Ohio's Newspaper for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com Volume 24, Issue 16 January 30, 2009

Twelve Ohio members of the Lesbian and Gay Band Association gather in their hotel lobby before joining President Barack Obama's inaugural parade.

They were among the 177 members of the association who formed one of the larger bands in the procession on June 20. Both the president and first lady smiled and waved as they marched past the reviewing stand, playing John Philip Sousa's "Washington Post" march.

The band, with silver jackets and a large banner, was seen on C-SPAN and a few other networks, although two had gone to commercials just before they arrived at the cameras at about 6:45 pm.

In the front row from left, Tommy Casarona, Yolanda Hicks and Sarah Morris kneel while behind them are Penny Guy, Mary Anthony, Alynn Rousselle, Lauren Gilchrist and Fred Martens. At the rear are Tim Yanok, Dennis Hubach, Megan Neal and Lisa D'Amore.

Hubach represented Columbus' Capital Pride Band, while Martens, Rousselle, Anthony, Neal and Morris are from Cincinnati's Queen City Rainbow Band. D'Amore, of Cincinnati, is the band association's president.

The remaining members, Casarona, Hicks, Guy, Gilchrist and Yanok are all part of the Blazing River Freedom. Band in Cleveland.

Cleveland Pride returns to

June 20, same day as Columbus

by Anthony Glassman

Cleveland-The city's Pride celebrations have been returned to their traditional third Saturday this June.

The parade and festival had been rescheduled for June's fourth Saturday this year, to avoid conflict with the Columbus Pride events.

The capital's celebration, usually on the month's final

weekend, is one week earlier for 2009 because of construction at the Bicentennial Park festival site. The festival was moved to Goodale Park, the traditional parade start-off point, which will not be available on June 27.

But discussions with city officials revealed that the Cleveland festival site, downtown's Voinovich Park on Lake Erie, is also not available that day, be-

Inside This Issue

cause a wine festival cannot change its date.

So, both the Cleveland and Columbus Pride parades and festivals will be on the same day, Saturday, June 20.

Cleveland Pride president Todd Saporito does not view this as a negative, though. He has been speaking with Karla Rothan, the executive director Continued on page 6

A close-up view of the Inauguration

Page 3

Community Groups

Charlie's Calendar

Resource Directory

Returning to her roots Page 8

Classifieds

Registry won't be undone, says Forbes

by Eric Resnick

Cleveland-"The registry is passed. It's not going to be undone," said Cleveland NAACP president George Forbes after two meetings with backers of Cleveland's new domestic partner registry.

Forbes, who spoke to the Gay People's Chronicle from Florida on January 27, said he plans to call domestic partner registry opponent Rev. C. Jay Matthews when he returns to Cleveland to "urge him to withdraw" from gathering petition signatures to repeal the registry, "as a friend."

The registry was signed into law in December, and opens April 9. Matthews led an unsuccessful referendum effort to keep it from taking effect, and is now seeking signatures to put a repeal on the ballot.

Forbes was part of two meetings with LGBT leaders. The first, on January 7, was with the editorial board of the city's African-American weekly, the Call and Post, of which Forbes is a member. He is also the newspaper's legal coun-

sel.

The other meeting occurred January 15 with the NAACP board, which Forbes chairs, and the agency's top staff.

The registry proponents involved were Cleveland LGBT Center director Sue Doerfer, city councilor Joe Cimperman, attorney Leslye Huff, African-American LGBT journalist Sherri Bowman and Kevin Calhoun. Equality Ohio director Lynne Bowman also attended the meeting with the Call and Post board.

Forbes said it "does not do any cause any good" to have Cléveland become the national focal point of an action against gay equal rights.

But Matthews is not deterred. "No, we have not suspended our efforts. We should have the signatures by the end of the month," he said in a January 27 e-mail.

The meeting with the Call and Post "was tense when it started," said Forbes.

The editorial board initially opposed the registry, but according to Forbes and Doerfer, minds were changed as the meeting went on, and gay and lesbian people talked about what the registry is and isn't, and how it affects lives. The measure, similar to ones in Toledo and Cleveland Heights, allows unmarried couples, both same and opposite-sex, to register with the city and receive documentation of their relationship. It grants no rights or responsibilities, but will be helpful in gaining benefits such as health coverage from private employers.

"I found out it was nothing more than a registry," said Forbes, add-

ing that when the conversation turned to LGBT people not having any legal protection, he began to think about it differently.

"I'm a civil rights lawyer and I realized that I had never had a gay or lesbian civil rights case, and it is because there are no rights," Forbes said. "That's when the tide of the meeting changed."

It's all about fairness

"For over 90 years, this newspaper has been a champion of the downtrodden and those who civil rights have been attacked or violated," wrote the Call and Post in a January 22 editorial. "We will not shy away from the issue of a domestic partner registry. At the end of the day, it's all about fairness."

"Individuals in committed relationships, but who are of the same sex, don't love any differently that those that are in heterosexual," the newspaper noted. "Love is love and commitment is

commitment any way you slice it.

"The Call and Post goes on record in supporting the domestic partner registry."

The NAACP also passed a resolution in support of the registry.

The Episcopal bishop of Ohio, Rt. Rev. Mark Hollingsworth, Jr., sent a letter to Cleveland council supporting it, joined by three assisting bishops.

Forbes, who was city council president from 1974 to 1989, was critical of the way council passed the registry ordinance. He agreed that the pastors Matthews represents didn't have much chance to be part of the process.

Forbes said he has asked council president Martin Sweeney to come up with a way to allow the ministers to be heard.

"I am trying to make a non-issue go away without causing any further division," Forbes said.

Sweeney said he has a call in to Matthews to arrange that conversation.

"Whatever forum, public or private, whatever we can do to meet their wants and needs, this council stands ready to do so," Sweeney said.

Sweeney did not know when the forum would happen.

Forbes also believes that opposition to the registry is thin.

"I don't think there are as many ministers craving for this [repeal] as some want us to think," said Forbes.

That sentiment echoes Matthews' statement to the Chronicle in December.

Matthews said United Pastors

in Mission, the group he chairs that came out against the registry,

Continued on page 4