Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 17:54:40 EDT
From: gaynet@gallifrey.kent.edu
Reply-To: gaynet@gallifrey.kent.edu
Subject: GayNet Digest Volume 0 Issue 6
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.gaynet

In this issue:
                 Christopher Columbus & the AIDS Quilt
                               subscribe
                 Where To Meet the Netters at The Quilt
    Reminder: Senate Roll Call vote on Clarence Thomas confirmation
             Hate Crimes on rise in Oregon: What you can do
                     GayNet Digest Volume 0 Issue 5
                             star trek:tng
              [mountain time and noo joisy]-revisited....
                       LA Pro-Choice Rally 10/31

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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 13:46:58 EDT
From: ACT.UP@um.cc.umich.edu
X-Mts-Userid: LPCU
Subject: Christopher Columbus & the AIDS Quilt

the following article was published in AGENDA (Ann Arbor's monthly
alternative newspaper) this month. author=pattrice maurer

*****************************************************************************
Christopher Columbus & the AIDS Quilt

"Today was a day like TB
you cough & cough trying to get it out
all that comes up is blood & spit"
        - Chrystos (Menominee)

I just reread an article written  in 1988 by Lawrence William
O'Connor (Winnebago).  Thinking about governmental neglect of AIDS
in relation to the historical and ongoing genocide of Native
Americans, he wrote,"every week I watch or hear of gay men who die
of AIDS.  Over twenty thousand have died.  Each of those twenty
thousand was a human life, a dream, that is now gone forever."  Five
years later, over 150,000 people in the U.S. have died of AIDS-
related illness.

In the U.S., October 11 is celebrated as "National Coming Out Day"
and October 12 is known as "Columbus Day."  This year, October 12
will mark the 500th anniversary of the European invasion of the
Americas while October 11 will bring the fifth anniversary of the
Names Project's AIDS quilt.  Besides being right next to each other,
these two anniversary dates have much in common.  Both should be
occasions of mourning and of celebration.  Of course, Christopher
Columbus did not "discover" lands which were already populated by
70-100 million people and his accidental landing on an island in
the Caribbean is no cause for jubilation.  The legacy of Columbus
was land theft, the murder of the original peoples of the Americas,
the enslavement of African peoples ... in short, 500 years of
exploitation of many lands and many peoples for the benefit of a
small group of Europeans. That legacy should be mourned rather than
celebrated.  What could and should be celebrated is the history of
popular resistance to that legacy through slave revolts, land reform
movements, anti-colonial revolutions, labor unions,  grassroots
community organizations ... in short, 500 years of struggle for
justice and against oppression.   Similarly,  the fifth anniversary
showing of the AIDS memorial quilt (which has swelled from 1,900
to 20,000 panels) will be an occasion to mourn the real and terrible
losses associated with AIDS.  At the same time, the very existence
of such a powerful memorial is, along with the existence of National
Coming Out Day itself, something to be celebrated.

"...from the beginning of the world, it was meant that there should be
homosexuals."
        -Mojave creation story

"Family rights forever.  Gay rights never."
        -Mass-produced placards at the Republican National Convention

There are still more connections between October 11th and 12th this
year.  As Gay American Indians (GAI) co-founder Randy Burns
(Nothern Paiute) has noted, "for centuries before and after the
arrival of the Europeans, gay and lesbian American Indians were
recognized and valued members of tribal communities."  But
colonization brought agents of cultural control, such as missionaries
and boarding schools, and, over time, European notions  about sex and
gender often overcame traditional attitudes.  Additionally, as
Midnight Sun (Anishnawbe) has noted, colonization brought
"fundamental changes in economic patterns [which] disrupted many
aspects of native social life, including gender and sexuality."   These
radical changes in social organization, combined with the imposition
of European "family values", led many Native American tribes which
had previously integrated homosexual and cross-gendered
individuals into the fabric of community life to begin, like
Europeans, to disparage and shun such individuals.

This  tragic loss is but one outcome of the Christian crusade against
Native American cultural/religious practices and but one battle in
the religious war against gay men and lesbians.   It is no accident
that certain U.S. churches are celebrating "500 Years of Evangelism"
in 1992, while Native Americans continue to struggle for religious
freedom and gay and lesbian Americans have yet to win basic civil
rights.  Throughout history, religion has been used to justify the
enslavement, oppression, and exploitation of "heathens" and "pagans."
Most of the crimes committed against Native Americans in the
process of colonization were committed "in the name of God."
Religion also has been used to condone violence against gay men and
lesbians. Those who believe that AIDS is "God's punishment" for
homosexuality have yet to let the fact that most people with AIDS
are heterosexual influence their belief that people with AIDS should
be left to die.

Of course, people with AIDS are not the first to be left to die in this
land.  At the turn of the century, Native Americans were referred to
as "the vanishing Americans."  Aside from the fact that Native
Americans were not about to vanish (no matter how much
European Americans might like them to), this phrase obscured the
fact that the original peoples of these lands were not simply fading
away but were, rather, being culturally and physically murdered in
the ongoing process of colonization.

"Genocide \'jen-e-sid\ n: the deliberate and systematic destruction
of a racial, political, or cultural group."
        -Websters New Collegiate Dictionary

When Columbus arrived, as many as three million of the Taino people
lived on the island they called Bohio;  fifty years later, only 200
Tainos lived on the island the Europeans now called Hispaniola.
Genocide - by forced labor and starvation, by the introduction of
disease, by unabashed mass murder - was the mechanism through
which Europeans gained control of the Americas.  The scope of the
killing, the depth and breadth of the loss, is almost unimaginable.
And, make no mistake, it was deliberate.  Even those deaths
due to disease were often deliberate.  Germ warfare was invented
here.  Sir Amhearst's "gift" of smallpox-infested blankets to Native
Americans was but one example.

There is some circumstantial evidence that AIDS, too, may have been
deliberately introduced into certain U.S. populations.  Even if that is
not the case, it is certainly true that the  government  entirely
neglected the first people with AIDS in the U.S. and continues to
neglect most people with AIDS.  Over 25,000 people, most of them
gay men, were allowed to perish before the federal government took
any concerted action.   Actions that have been taken since have often
been minimal and misplaced.  Today, the majority of new AIDS cases
occur among people of color and over 90% of children with AIDS are
children of color.  Yet, only 6% of the federal AIDS education budget
goes to "minority" communities.  It is difficult to imagine that this
could be anything other than the deliberate destruction of
communities of color.  Worldwide, literally millions of people, most
of them African and Asian,  will die of AIDS-related illness in the
coming years.

"But don't you remember Chaske, whose spine
Was crushed so quickly by Mr. Pizzaro's boot?
What words did he cry into the dust?
What was the familiar name
Of that young girl who danced so gracefully
That everyone in the village sang with her -
Before Cortez' sword hacked off her arms...?"
        -Jimmie Durham

David R.
"from Alaska, loved flowers and wanted to open a flower shop but he
managed a bank instead (you know how life can be) well he was
positive (?HIV?) and full of love, then his health slipped and he met
a blond ..."
        - panel from the AIDS quilt

The  quilt is pieced together from individual panels made by lovers,
friends, and family of people who have died of AIDS.  Panels contain
words, drawing, photographs, and souvenirs as well as comforting
fabric; each seems to say, "here: this was a life, a dream. We cannot
afford to forget this." When if was first unfurled in 1987 the  quilt
covered more than the area of a football field; now it is ten times
larger than that.  Its power resides precisely in the combination of
the breathtaking vastness of the whole and the heartbreaking
uniqueness of each part.  It is powerful, too, because it is a
testament of the persistence of memory and of the willful refusal to
vanish.  It is fitting, then, that the quilt should be put together in its
entirety again as we celebrate 500 years of such resistance.

There are many ways to join this celebration of resistance.  Many
organizations will be sponsoring educational and political events
throughout the month of October.   If you teach, set aside time in
October to cover the aspects of this history of oppression and
resistance which are relevant to your field .

Attention to history will not be enough, however, nor will purely
symbolic memorial activities.   We must also take concrete action in
the present towards the future.  As
Robert Allen Warrior (Osage) has noted, the key struggles for Native
Americans nationally are about religious freedom, land claims,
resource management, and federal-tribal governmental relations.
Important AIDS-related struggles have to do with the distribution of
health care and AIDS prevention services; gay and lesbian Americans
continue to struggle against bias-related violence and for basic civil
rights.

The arrival of the Europeans brought radical and devastating changes
to the Americas; AIDS has also brought terrible changes.  The
associated losses of life are irrevocable but will not be meaningless
if only we remember them with action.  In the name of those who
have gone before, we must commit ourselves to direct collective
action towards radical change in the right direction.   If we
remember hard enough, we can envision the peace, freedom, and
justice that have been stolen from all of us; if we work hard enough,
we can bring them back.

...because the moon remembers
because so does the sun
because the stars
remember
and the persistent stubborn grass
of the earth"
        - Paula Gunn Allen (Laguna Pueblo/Sioux)
*****************************************************************************
on 10/11/92 @ 3PM @ COMMON LANGUAGE BOOKSTORE in ann arbor, the ella baker-
nelson mandela center for anti-racist education, the u-m lesbian and gay
men's programs office, and ACT UP/ann arbor will present: "NATIONAL COMING
OUT DAY & COLUMBUS DAY: WHAT'S THE CONNECTION?"  This multi-media event is
free and open to the public.  call 313-936-1809 for more info.

------------------------------

Date:    Fri, 9 Oct 1992 13:30:11 -0500 (CDT)
From: DARRELL@WINROCK.ORG
Subject: subscribe

subscribe GAYNET Darrell Wallace

------------------------------

From: Mark Hertzog <mwh8h@uva.pcmail.Virginia.EDU>
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 14:20:13 EDT
Subject: Where To Meet the Netters at The Quilt

Howdy!
     Any Netters who would like to meet for the Washington candlelight march
at the Quilt on Saturday evening, please meet at *5:45 p.m.* on the NORTHWEST
CORNER of Constitution Avenue and 15th St., N.W.  This is the corner nearest
to the Ellipse.  I'll have a sign saying "GayNet" or some other such
unmistakeable symbol (my boyfriend *may* have some peacock feathers for this
purpose!).  The march starts at the Ellipse (that big oval green in back of
the White House) at 6:30 p.m., will proceed around the White House and end up
at the Lincoln Memorial, where the vigil ceremony will be held.
     Someone suggested going out dancing afterward, which, depending on our
mood and our degree of tiredness or awakeness, might be fun.
     See you there!

Mark in Virginia

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 10:57:53 -0700
From: jnrg@ocf.Berkeley.EDU
Subject: Reminder: Senate Roll Call vote on Clarence Thomas confirmation

Let's pause for a public service announcement, since
incumbent Senators who voted for Thomas seem
to have suffered collective amnesia.  (It
kinda reminds me of how, after Watergate,
one couldn't find anyone who would admit
to having voted for Nixon).

SENATORS WHO VOTED IN FAVOR OF CONFIRMING
CLARENCE THOMAS TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT
ONE YEAR AGO.

Alabama-Shelby

Alaska-Stevens, Murkowski

Arizona-DeConcini, McCain

Arkansas-none

California-Seymour

Colorado-Brown

Connecticut-none

Delaware-Roth

Florida-Mack

Georgia-Nunn, Fowler

Hawaii-none

Michigan-none

Minnesota-Durenberger

Mississippi-Cochran, Lott

Missouri-Danforth, Bond

Montana-Burns

Nebraska-Exon

Nevada-none

New Hampshire-Rudman, Smith

New Jersey-none

New Mexico-Domenici

New York-D'Amato

North Carolina-Helms

North Dakota-none

Ohio-none

Oklahoma-Boren, Nickles

Oregon-Hatfield

Pennsylvania-Specter

Rhode Island-Chafee

South Carolina-Thurmond, Hollings

South Dakota-Pressler

Tennessee-none

Texas-Gramm

Utah-Garn, Hatch

Vermont-none

Virginia-Warner, Robb

Washington-Gorton

West Virginia-none

Wisconsin-Kasten

Wyoming-Wallop, Simpson

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 10:57:36 -0700
From: jnrg@ocf.Berkeley.EDU
Subject: Hate Crimes on rise in Oregon: What you can do

According to an article in the October 7, 1992 alternative newsweekly,
the San Francisco Weekly, a lesbian and a gay man were murdered
in Salem, OR on Sept. 26 when a Molotov cocktail was tossed
through the window of their apartment building.  The article
is by Keith Clark, who does not like his articles reposted
without permission, so trust my excerpting.

Four youths, described by authorities as skinheads with
ties to the American Front, a neo-Nazi white supremacist
group, have been arrested.  Two of the youths were
apprehended previously this year for racist vandalism; their
car contained a number of weapons.

Meanwhile, the offices of the gay rights political action
group OUT-Pac, in Springfield OR, have been repeatedly
broken into, despite their having moved once to a new
and not disclosed location.  Taken were lists of donors
and research files.

Seven lesbians have been terrorized by gunfire from
their commune in southern Oregon to Roseburg OR and,
still terrorized there, they have fled into hiding in
California.

THIS is the sort of stuff to call the Oregon
governor's office AND the FBI/federal
Department of Justice about.  Are these
crimes being vigorously pursued as
hate crimes and civil rights violations?
Ask the authorities what EXACTLY they
are doing to solve these crimes, protect
future potential victims of such crimes, and
prevent such crimes in future.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 16:56 EST
From: JDDIXON@CC.OWU.EDU
Subject: Re: GayNet Digest Volume 0 Issue 5

Boycot the LIMITED!!!!

Closeted Les Wexner, owner of Limited, Structure, Abercrombe and Fitch, Lane
 Bryant, Henri Bendel, Lerner, Limited Express, and I think one more store
is a two-faced, back stabbing ASS!

i thought the man was cool and actually operated on a very PC agenda.

the fact that the man engaged himself to this woman only so he could have an
heir (Columbus Gossip) and that he's only doing it because his mother would
shit if he came out makes me completely PO'd.  He's the 4th wealthiest man
in the country, many insiders KNOW that he's gay and he's having a fundraiser
for BUSHit?  this is ridiculous, if even teh most powerful lesbigays in our
country can't get a grip and come out and support a true cause who do we
have left.  Les has done wonders for Columbus and the Arts and he turns
around and endorses Bush and gets engaged probably just to support
Bush's 'family values.'  i can't wait to hear how the honeymoon goes.

I
I'm sick of the Limited's poor business policies and Les Wexner can kiss
my caboody.

I urge everyone to not only boycott the preceding clothing stores, but
contact Les Wexner.  I don't know his address or PO box, but I feel
like spraypainting SHAME on his new multimillion dollar home in New
Albany.

I'm irked

-Joel

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 17:10:30 -0400
From: info-25@info.umd.edu
Subject: star trek:tng

as a st:tng fan., i have been sorely disappointed by their portrayal of
a supposedly egalitarian society. look under the surface, and the femal sexual
stereotypes are all there, the white male are all still in power, and
everyone is straight. here's what i heard regarding the gay character, they
were going to introduce one (i don't know if for one episode or what), then
i believe they chickened out (i never was sure if it was due to pressure or
cold feet). instead, they had this really LAME episode about commander
riker (the one with the beard who looks like he's constipated) fall
in love with this being from a genderless planet. this planet
rigorously made everyone deny their sexuality. althoogh, every once in a while,
a nonconformist would pop up who would insist in being one or the other.
these people were ruthlessly rounded up and put in serious hell therapy.
anyway, the one riker liked decided she was female. he wanted to help her
get asylum on the enterprise, but she was caught and deprogrammed instead.
this was all supposed to be a highly sophisticated allegory for the
treatment of gay people here on twentieth century earth. poor substituion
if you ask me. oh--also, i think they once shed two guys holding hands
in the background. also, you might remember when dr. crusher fell
in love with that parasite thing who would change host humanoid bodies
when his got sick? well, it ended up in a female body at the end, and dr crusher
broke it off. she said it was because she couldn't get used to so much
change so fast, yeah right. anyway, that's my rant against st: tng.
i'm still pissed at what they did to wesley!
paula

------------------------------

From: rcrawfor@bell.susqu.edu
>To: gaynet@GALLIFREY.KENT.edu
>From: rcrawfor
Date: Fri Oct 9 17:44:25 EDT 1992
Phone: The I-House
Subject: [mountain time and noo joisy]-revisited....
Ua-Message-Id: <PMXSTAR-2.2.1a-rcrawfor-000000real-183>

        well, folks it seems that a large number of people can't take a joke,
so i humbly apologise to the 62 people who sent me messages saying that
mountain time was important to them, and i publicly bow my head to our friend
at boise state in idaho for the same remark....

        however, i must remark on a note of hypocrisy, which i think is funny
in spite of all the negative connotations of the "h" word. while there were
many people who wrote to lambast me on the mountain time thing (and not all of
them lived in that time zone), nobody--NOBODY--spoke up in defense of noo
joisy. hmmmmm.
         interesting....it seems that some parts of the country are more
valuable than others......

        well, i must go. somehow i must find time in my busy schedule for
dinner.....

        always remembering my towel.....,
        rob

        rcrawfor@bell.susqu.edu

        robert lee crawford
        campus center box 246
        susquehanna university
        selinsgrove pa 17870         717.372.3484

______ the pink triangle......membership has its privileges....
\    /
 \  /
  \/ out since 1987....

------------------------------

Date: 9 Oct 92 14:56:25 U
From: "CJones" <cjones@wylbur.physci.ucla.edu>
Subject: LA Pro-Choice Rally 10/31

 Subject:  LA Pro-Choice Rally 10/31
Last night I did some phone banking for Barbara Boxer's US Senate campaign and
I found out about a pro-choice rally that's in the planning stages right now.
Here's the preliminary info (I'll post more when it's available):

   *** P R O - C H O I C E   R A L L Y   O N   O C T. 3 1 ***

A rally for pro-choice candidates, including Barbara Boxer, and organizations
will be held on Saturday, October 31, at the Westwood Federal Building on
Wilshire and Sepulveda.  Since it's on a weekend, parking will be free.
Organizers are expecting 10,000 people to show up for this event which will
take place just 4 days before the election.

(I'm not sure if Barbara will be there, but since her campaign is one of the
organizers, she probably will be.  Barbara and Dianne Feinstein had a similar
event at the Federal Building on the Saturday before the primary.)

________     Chad Jones
\      /     Department Computer Geek
 \    /      UCLA Department of Physiological Science
  \  /       cjones@physci.ucla.edu
   \/        (310) 825-6528

------------------------------

End of GayNet Digest
********************
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