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Columbus news

400 in women's march; Gay booth prospers

By Rob Davis

Women Take Back The Night

Over 400 women participated in the "Women take back the night" march, held May 19 in Columbus. The purpose of the march was to reaffirm women's rights to move freely, outside, day or night, and to celebrate women's unity and sisterhood. After meeting on the OSU Oval to hear several speakers, the group began marching through the campus area. A woman who participated in the march reflected on the importance of continuing what was begun that night. "If we were to stop after the march, we might as well have never marched at all. We must continue each day showing we're not afraid. We're here, and we're not going back inside again."

Many women who saw the

WORS INI

march joined as the march passed where they lived. The number of people grew as the march approached Spring Community Festival, which was in progress at that time. The march ended with a rally on the stage of the festival, including some speeches and singing of songs such as "Fight Back," and "Solidarity Forever." Women of all ages and from many walks of life were represented in this march, which celebrated the strength and unity in the women's community.

Community Festival Booth

MCC/Columbus and Gay Alliance co-sponsored a booth at the Spring Community Festival here. May 18-20. The purpose of the booth was to provide

information about the many services available in the Columbus community, as well as

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to talk about the concerns we share as a Gay community Brochures about a variety of subjects were available. and questions were answered by those staffing the booth. Buttons, including one which said. "Someone in your life is Gay." were sold, proceeds to go to the OGRC booth at the Ohio State Fair This writer, who coordinated the booth this year. would like to thank the many people from MCC/Columbus and G.A who helped to make this year's booth a success.

Gay Alliance

Meral Crane, therapist with the OSU mental health center, spoke to Gay Alliance April 24 as part of Gay Awareness Week. Her topic was "Homosexuality: The hazards of labeling." She explained how many would prefer to divide people into two groups, "Gay and Straight." She explained how these two groups often give strong pressure to accept ambiguity in any person conform to their style and won't "Give each person space to be who they are." she said in response to this. Quoting Alan Bell, a research psychologist with the Kinsey Institute. she said, "Neither gay nor straight is necessarily good. It all depends on an ingenuity of making the best of an imperfect world."

MCC/Columbus

MCC Day. held May 12 at King's Island was most successful, with over 400 people attending. MCC groups from Ohio. Indiana. Michigan. Pennsylvania. West Virginia. Kentucky and Tennessee were represented at this event. Everyone attending was asked to wear a red shirt and blue jeans so that people could recognize each other. "We all came out of our closets, and had a good time." according to a member of MCC/Columbus who was there.

Gay Pride Week

Gay Pride Week will be held June 24-30 in Columbus. The Gay Pride Committee has been busy planning a joint celebration. June 24 will be a kickoff picnic at Highbanks Metropolitan Park, north of Columbus. A cookout and swimming at Delaware State Park will be June 29-30. For more information about Gay Pride Week, contact the Gay Pride Committee at 614-

Editorial

Rioters and jurors

When Dan White shot to death San Francisco mayor George Moscone and gay city supervisor Harvey Milk, he fired nine shois After pumping five bullets into the mayor.he reloaded his gun. walked down the hall, talked for a few moments to Milk and then pumped four bullets into him. In killing the two. White made a point of shooting each victim through the brain.

White was either guilty of first degree murder of innocent by reason of insanity The verdict of "voluntary manslaughter" with a penalty of five to seven years in prison is a moral, ethical, and legal monstrosity

Upon hearing that White was sentenced to five to seven years for "voluntary manslaughter." several thousand San Francisco gays rioted. smashing city hall and burning 12 police patrol cars

Unlike the behavior of Dan White last November, the behavior of gay rioters in San Francisco on May 21 does not seem to have been premeditated.

Unlike the behavior last November of Dan White, the behavior of gay rioters in San Francisco on May 21 did not leave behind two mutilated corpses.

White. the jury was told, suffered from "diminished mental capacity (temporary or permanent insanity), did not know what he was doing when he crawled through a basement window of city hall to avoid the metal detector in the lobby. Not being reappointed by the mayor to the supervisor's job, from which he had resigned. put him under great mental strain as he stood there with the loaded gun hidden beneath his suit coat.

It is no more difficult to argue that many San Francisco gays. after hearing of the White verdict, were suffering from panic. Most people are unlikely to be at their most calm and considerate when they think that their lives have just been threatened. The White ver dict could be seen as announcing open season on gays.

It is well known in San Francisco that White resented Milk's influence with the mayor, that White had been elected to the supervisor's position, from which he later resigned. by promising super so-called straights in his district that he would do all within his power to keep the city from being "invaded" by any more "misfits. It was all too easy for gays to see thekillingsas an attempt by White to keep his election promise and set an example to others Even if not interpreted as panic, the behavior of the rioting gays could be seen as a sudden act of self-defense, that gays felt obliged to make known immediately, in a way impossible to ignore. that they would not be easy targets.

Being on the defensive leaves people open to further interfer ence. Saying. "Please don't hit us." invites further blows. (Bullies by definition are those who abuse those who appear to be unable to defend themselves.) It is sometimes deemed necessary to clout to keep from being clouted.

No matter how questionable, morally or politically, rioting may be as a continued course of action, there has been at least one unmistakably positive effect to this particular rioting: The White verdict has not been swept under the rug.

Responsible citizens serving on juries across the United States have before them a warning: serious crimes cannot be politely disposed of with wishy-washy verdicts.

Throughout the trial White's defense freely admitted that there was absolutely no doubt that White had shot Moscone and Milk that there was only a question of White's state of mind

No doubt an unambiguous guilty or innocent verdict would have been very hard work for the jury. But such hard work was the responsibility the jurors assumed when they took the juror's oati By shrinking its responsibility, the White jury has compromised both itself and the law.

More concerned with trying to placate everybody than with concentrating on the serious business of the law, the White jury has neither pleased any group nor earned its respect.

OGRC clause makes it through

Tuesday. May 15, 1979 in Columbus the Ohio General Assembly for the first time passed a bill containing within it provisions sponsored by the Ohio Gay Rights Coalition.

Amended House Bill 328

passed the House on April 4 by a vote of 86-6 and the Senate on May 15 by a vote of 30-0. As introduced, its purpose was to abolish four useless state boards and commissions, as the first bill in a series to eliminate a number of obsolete state agencies. OGRC with the help of Sen.

convincing the General Assembly to add the state UnAmerican Activities Commission the list of boards and commissions headed for termination.

OGRC has a number of other bills pending, and it hopes they will be just as successful as

House Bill 328.

Due to the potential for abuse and invasion of privacy by this now-defunct Commission, and due to the rise of the radical right in the past few years, OGRC saw