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Gay Pride Synopsis

Art MacDonald

Cleveland's second annual Gay Pride Celebration was a quiet success. While nothing was done inthe way of a parade, or mass meetings in Public Square, a very successful Friday night Coffeehouse, and a Gay Pride Picnic at, where else? Edgewater Park! Unfortunately, the Seminars that were scheduled for the KIVA at Cleveland State University had to be cancelled, because of last minute withdrawals by the guest speakers. All in all, however, a good step forward for the newlyemerging political gay community.

The Coffeehouse featured entertainment from Miami, to replace a locally scheduled singer. Roy was a terrific fillin, and surprised the Coffeehouse management by agreeing to perform at the last minute at no cost. THE ALTERNATIVE, the Coffeehouse that sponsored the program, is a Youth Outreach of the Metropolitan Community Church here in Cleveland, and is in its second month of providing an alternative (hence the name) for the under 21 'community, and those who do not like the bar scene.

The picnic on Sunday afternoon had to be considered a success, although there was little cooperation in the local community in promoting it. Most of the bars would not post the special Gay Pride posters that the GEAR Foundation had printed for the occassion, nor would they distribute the Gay Pride brochures that were printed. One establishment referred to the posters and brochures as litter, and another simply took the materials and later threw them away. Despite the non-cooperation, about one hundred people attended the Picnic held at the Edgewater Park Pavilion, the majority of them members of the MCCS in Akron and Cleveland. An MCC Worship Service in the Park was held later in the afternoon, with Stan Roberts, the Worship Coordinator from the Akron group delivering a "challenge" to the people present. Following the message, Mr. Roberts, and Art MacDonald, the Worship Coordinator from the MCC in Cleveland, concelebrated a communion service, followed by a loud singing of "We Shall Overcome".

The attitude among the participants in the Gay Pride festivities were enthusiastic, happy, and unlike previous years, even Proud! Although threatening telephone calls were recieved by the MCC Hotline during the week preceding the Gay Pride activities, no actual incidents occurred during the weekend. There were uniformed officers present during the coffeehouse, and the picnic, both volunteer security officers from within the gay community.

July, 1975

HIGH GEAR

Photos By Ray Unger

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Are Homosexuals Superior To Non-Gays?

John Nosek

Western society has historically denigrated or simply ignored the position of homosexuals in its social structure. Considered less than fully human and a sore on an otherwise "moral" tradition, Gays had been neatly pocketed into compartments that read, "mentally deranged, unnatural, immoral, and generally undesirable." Reports of late, however not only counteract these assumptions but provide significant evidence that Gay people may possess unique characteristics unknown to their fellow non-Gays.

Mark Freedman, a staff psychologist at the Northeast Community Mental Health Center in San Francisco recently submitted an article entitled, "Homosexuals May Be Healthier Than Straights" to Psychology Today. Freedman cited pioneer research published by psychologist Evelyn Hooker of UCLA in 1957 which drew the then tentative conclusions that 1) the clinical entity or "disease" called homosexuality does not exist. 2) homosexuality may well be a deviation that is within the normal range of human behavior, and 3) particular forms of sexual desire and expression may play a less important role in personality structure than many psychologists assume. Subsequent studies confirm Hooker's findings which have resulted in both the American Psychiatric Association and the National Science Foundation removing homosexuality from their respective lists of disorders.

Freedman's research with Lesbians indicated even more provocative information: that Gays may actually be better off psychologically than heterosexuals. First, Freedman claims Gays have responded to social pressures against homosexuality by "centering," discovering and living according to their own values. In his work the Lesbians scored higher than a control group on autonomy, spontaneity, orientation toward the present (as opposed to being obsessed with the past or anticipating the future), and sensitivity to one's own needs and feelings. In brief, feelings of separateness (Continued On Page 17).