FIVE CONVICTED OF RAPING HOMOSEXUAL STAGE COURT ROOM RIOT

Five men accused of raping a male homosexual were convicted by jury trial April 30th. The guilty verdict resulted in a courtroom riot lasting 20 minutes which 79-year-old Judge Perry B. Jackson termed" the biggest uproar I've seen in more than 30 years on the bench."

The five defendants, Michael Eaton, 20, of 9903 Pierpont Ave., NE, Ralph Wells, 23, of 1236 Bender Ave., East Cleveland, James L. Carr, 23, of 12204 Mt. Overlook Rd., SE, George Britton, of 1134 E. 141st. St., and Ervin Green, 25, of 3443 E. 140th St., were found guilty of raping a 22-year-old man who was also being held at Cuyahoga County Jail when the rape occurred Jan. 20th. Their defense rested largely on the fact that the man had had voluntary sexual relations earlier that day with another prisoner, Darryl Richardson, and is a practicing homosexual. Richardson, now serving time at the Mansfield Reformatory for aggravated robbery, testified for the defendants.

We

This reporter has not been able to ascertain whether the plaintiff sufferred any physical damage, nor the extent of emotional trauma. have little information currently available concerning his personal circumstances.

As bailiff Lewis B. Richardson read the verdict, Green and Eaton rose lifting their chairs, starting the fracas. Seven deputies attempted to handcuff the defendants, as Richardson waylaid a female spectator approaching the fray. While attempting to clear the courtroom of spectators, one, pelted him with a .30-caliber bullet he pulled from his pocket. Judge Jackson and members of the jury fled through a back door, and Mayfield High School students who had been observing the trial daily managed to get into the next courtroom, where a trial there was interrupted by noise of the disturbance. A squad of deputies was dispatched from the Criminal Court Building, and brought the situation under control after 20 minutes.

The defendants were later brought in one at a time to be referred to a psychiatric clinic for a presentencing examination, and were advised of their rights to appeal the verdict.

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Help us show your representatives in Washington that you support the current amendment to the Civil Rights Acts, banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. Fill in the form below NOW, with your Representative's name, and your own name and address. Mail it to:

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I fully support the Civil Rights Act amendment Introduced by Rep. Belia Abzug (D.N.Y.) and others on March 25, 1975, banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. PLEASE VOTE FOR IT, and encourage your colleagues to do the same.

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Whither GAA?

BY LEON STEVENS

It has been nearly a year since Cleveland GAA abolished itself without public announcement or explanation. Over this period much folklore has evolved about GAA's demise among those who were not associated or familiar with it. Since much of the speculation has been discrediting, I feel obligated as a former member of GAA to dispel the prevailing intrigue.

Cleveland GAA became primarily a student organization on the campus of Case Western Reserve University which would nevertheless avail itself to the gay community outside of the university. It changed each semester as new officers were elected and new students joined to replace those who departed. Due to the transient nature of GAA's membership, it was difficult to construct and implement long-range projects which required the participation of the whole group. Exams and other academic demands also disrupted the continuity of ambitious, collective efforts. Our inability to realize larger socio-political visions continually dampened our optimism.

GAA was highly sensitive to criticism by gays outside the organization and struggled to be "all things to all people." This disposition proved disastrous. Radicals inside and outside of the organization asserted that it lacked sufficient political motivation, and socialites insisted that GAA was too political and threw no gala social functions. Idealists contended that the group had no sense of adventure while realists accused it of recklessness. Populists bewailed its "pompousness, and sophisticates lamented its "crudeness." Because it felt compelled to swing left or right with continued on Page 10

HIGH GEAR May, 1975 Page 3