Although prosecutor might appeal

John Zeh case dismissed

CINCINNATI, OHIO. Felony charges against Cincinnati gay broadcaster John Zeh and WAIFFM, the station he broadcasts over, were dismissed on Tuesday August 26 by Common Pleas Judge Peter Outcalt.

Zeh and the station were charged with distributing obscene material to minors after the January 3 broadcast of Zeh's radio program "Gaydreams", during which Zeh discussed the advantages and disadvantages of various sexual lubricants.

According to a story by Marilyn Dillon and Steven Rosen in the August 27 issue of The Cincinnati Enquirer, county prosecutor Simon J. Leis, Jr. was angered by the decision and said that he plans to appeal the ruling.

Leis said that Outcalt's ruling was premature. Referring to Zeh, he insisted that there "isn't a jury in this country that wouldn't convict that guy."

"I don't care how many adverse decisions our judges give us," he said. "I'm going to keep fighting them all the way. It's a constant struggle. I don't know what it is with them."

In his six page ruling, Judge Outcalt pointed out that the January 3 broadcast was not specifically aimed at juveniles and cited a May 1980 ruling by the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals in a case involving the same charges against Philip R. Loshin, the owner of the Cupboard, a store at 2613 Vine Street in Corryville.

Loshin was charged with displaying in a store window T-shirts and a scarf with obscene language printed on them. Charges against Loshin were dismissed in municipal court, and the prosecutor's office appealed.

The appeals court ruled that displaying the items for the general public where juveniles might happen upon them did not constitute unlawfully presenting them to juveniles.

According to Outcalt's ruling, the law requires "evidence of a specific transaction with a juvenile."

Four children ages 9, 12, 14 and 15 of Joseph and Margaret Platt of Anderson Township overheard and recorded Zeh's January 3 broadcast during which he read edited excerpts from "The Firsthand Guide to Greasy Fingers," an article from Firsthand Magazine. The children's father complained to prosecutor. Leis, who obtained an indictment of four counts from the Grand Jury.

Outcalt also ruled that the four counts against Zeh should have been combined into one. He said that the law defines an offense in terms of the number of presentations, not in terms of the number of people who

see or hear it.

"The Court," he said, "feels that it would be just as logical to list each suggested lubricating substance as a separate count of the indictment. The state could return indictments for the Crisco count, the Vaseline count, the butter count, the banana count, etc."

Outcalt did conclude in his ruling, however that the statute under which Zeh and WAIF-FM were indicted was constitutional. Called a victory

WAIF attorney Allen Brown said that Outcalt's decision was "a great victory for the freedom of broadcasting," that broadcasting can still address itself to adult listeners "without being criminally liable or having to reduce itself to the level of an eight year old."

Zeh praised the work of Brown and of attorney James Feldman, Jr. for their researching and handling of the case. He also said that he was grateful to those across the United States who have contributed to the First Amendment Defense Fund formed to help pay his legal expenses.

"Gaydreams," which has been expanded into a two hour format, has been moved from Saturday afternoons to a 11 p.m. Sunday to I a.m. Monday time slot.

Zeh said that with the new time

slot it would be much more difficult for anyone to claim that any minors had tuned in accidentally.

David Dugle, WAIF board chairman, said that the case and the publicity that has gone with it do not seem to have hurt the station.

A listener supported, noncommercial station, its membership

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Gay and Lesbian Jews

Dear Members and Friends,

Last July, I went to Philadelphia to attend the Sixth International Conference of Gay and Lesbian Jews. It was an exciting and heartening experience. Learning about my Jewish gay brothers and sisters and sharing in their wonderful sense of closeness and caring, had a very strong effect on me. I attended workshops, the Friday evening service, and many social gatherings. I met many dedicated and warm women and men who were actively going about making a fuller, more satisfying life for themselves and those they love. I was surprised to learn of gay Jewish social groups and congregations in Chi-

PAGE 5, HIGH GEAR

has recently jumped to 700 subscribers. Until 1981, its membership hovered between 470 and 500. "It's a definite fact that WAIF is stronger than it has ever been," said Dugle.

Zeh. fired from an editing job after the indictment, has been without a paying job since March.

cago, Detroit, Ft. Wayne, and Indianapolis, as well as those in San Francisco and New York. There are others being formed in Columbus and Pittsburgh. I came home to Cleveland hoping that here too, a group of gay and lesbian Jews might possibly be started. If there are any of you interested in discussing such a project, please come down to the Gear Community Center of Sunday, October 18th at 2:00 p.m. We'll have coffee and cake and talk about the possibilities for such a group.

Sincerely,

Rowe Davidson

Cincinnati University dumps Zeh

On Thursday September 3rd, Communiversity, the continuing education division of the University of Cincinnati, informed John Zeh that it had canceled a course he was scheduled to teach for it this autumn entitled "Sexual Subcultures."

According to Ken Service, assistant vice president for public affairs at the University of Cincinnati, the course was canceled because no one had registered for it. Service said that the University routinely cancels Communiversity courses which are not self-supporting, but has not said whether or not it usually waits until registration is over to cancel a

course.

On September 3rd the Cincinnati Enquirer published an editorial against holding the course. The previous Friday a similar editorial appeared in the Cincinnati Post

The Post had also run a story with a banner headline over it which read, "Zeh to teach sex course at UC."

The September 3rd Enquirer editorial, entitled "Sex Subculture to be subject of lecture series,” begins by saying, "Offhand it's difficult-to imagine anything the Universit

Cincinnati could do that would be less worthwhile than offering a course on 'Sexual Subcultures in Cincinnati' taught by John Zeh."

The editorial says that Zeh "burst upon the community's consciousness" with a broadcast describing sexual lubricants, “a feature of the Gaydreams' program he presents for and about homosexuals."

After admitting that no university or "tax-derived" funds would be spent in offering the course and that teachers and lectures in the Communiversity program are paid for by fees paid by those who register, the editorial goes on to say, “But everything that transpires under the vast umbrella that is the University of Cincinnati touches its stature and either builds or repels public support. To say that there is adequate interest (a minimum of ten students) to support the course proves nothing except to suggest that 10 students could probably be rounded up to support any absurdity parading as scholarly inquiry or to pay the fee of any cuckoo posing as an academician."

The editorial ends by saying, "It is distressing that UC and those who operate it attach so little value to a

reputation that many generations of able and dedicated men and women have built."

An article by Kathleen Haddad in the Enquirer quotes Zeh as saying, about officials of the university "I'm surprised they didn't discuss it with me before they released it to the press. I can't believe they don't have more backbone than that.

"I don't accept their reason for canceling because registration has just begun,” he said “It's another example of the kind of discrimination homosexuals face, and it's really unfortunate because the university has a policy of nondiscrimination because of sexual preference."

Talking to HIGH GEAR by telephone on September 23rd, Zeh said that when he was talking to reporters the day Judge Outcalt dismissed the obscenity case, he was asked what his current activities were. Zeh said that he told the reporters about the course, hoping that the publicity would get more people to enroll.

Zeh said that he has taught two similar courses at the University of Cincinnati three years ago when Communiversity was called Free University: