Newsgroups: bit.listserv.gaynet
Date:         Thu, 30 Jul 1992 01:20:02 -0400
From:         gaynet@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
Subject:      GayNet Digest Volume 5 Issue 588

In this issue:
                            OLTL (Wednesday)
                       splitting the community ??
                   Les renseignements, s'il te plait!
      Bank of America considering changing it's mind! [WRITE/CALL]
                Lesbian Wedding Announcement Controversy
                           1992 LAMMY AWARDS
         HIV+ Woman Requests To Speak At REPUBLICAN CONVENTION
                            gay republicans?
                              Living a lie

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

From: Greg Pratt <aragon@lachesis.acm.rpi.edu>
Subject: OLTL (Wednesday)
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 17:56:07 EDT

Today's show opens on the patio with Viki and Renee eating breakfast, and
Joey and Alan cutting through (and skipping breakfast).  Virginia Douglas
(Billy's mom) arrives, looking very distraught, asking everyone present if
they have seen Billy or know where he is.  He didn't come home last night,
and she is worried.

Walter Douglas, Billy's dad, doesn't know yet that Billy never came home last
night.  Virginia is unusually worried because of the events that took place
yesterday, and she tells them to those present: she asked Billy yesterday,
for the first time, about some things related to the incident with Andrew
Carpenter.  Viki tells her that it's natural for him to be upset about all of
that, but Virginia tells her that it wasn't that -- it was something more.
She doesn't elaborate on it, except to say that it's something he doesn't
want to talk about, and that she probably pushed him too hard.  She starts
crying, and Viki comforts her.  Alana looks at Joey and quietly asks him, "Do
you think she knows?"  Joey doesn't say a word, but he looks worried.

Some guy named Troy was the head of the Llanview Police Department.  We see
him in the DA's office, turning in his letter of resignation (it has to do
with another storyline altogether).  A woman comes in (who Troy and Hank
Gannon both have in common in love) and talks to him about this.  The subject
of the Community Center comes up, and Troy comments that gay-bashing affects
everybody.

Alana and Joey are alone on the patio now, with the others now just inside
the house.  Alana wonders if Billy's mom pressured him, and just how much she
knows.  They decide to go out and look for Billy on their own, checking up on
places that Billy has been known to hang out.

Viki and Clint are starting to have some problems.  Clint is worried about
Andrew's position, and the fact that he is supposed to be a role model for
kids.  He says he is taking the church's position down with him.  Viki
disagrees strongly, saying that he is fighting for his principles.  Clint
doesn't seem like a high-strung bigot as Elizabeth MacNamara is, but I get
the feeling he doesn't think a gay minister would be appropriate.

Joey and Alana cut through an alley as they try to make their way to the
local bus station, and it is here they find Billy.  He is completely
unconscious, sitting in a pile of rubbish next to a large garbage can.  Joey
and Alana run over to him, and Alana is starting to cry.  Marty is nearby,
quite zonked.  Joey tells Alana to go send an ambulance here right away.

Clint finds Viki cutting roses in their garden, but she doesn't seem very
responsive to him -- she's kind of giving him the cold shoulder.  They start
talking, and Clint expresses his concern about Joey's involvement in the
whole mess, and about hanging around a community center that has to be
explicitly protected by the police.  Viki tells her husband that she is very
proud of Joey, and that he is growing into an an adult who is capable of
dealing with a fight on his own in many cases.  Clint then changes the
subject to the Carpenters themselves, wondering why Viki is putting her neck
on the line by defending them, and why she is so interested in both Andrew
and Sloan.  Viki doesn't really have an answer for him.

Joey is awaiting the ambulance in the alley, holding Billy in his arms; he
will not wake up in any way.  Marty, however, has woken up, but she is
groggy, still quite in a hangover.  Marty is babbling, telling Joey how he
was just playing a game, and how if she were Billy and in his arms, "I
wouldn't want to wake up either."  Joey just tells her to shut up.  He is
really worried about Billy, and doesn't want to lose his friend.  An
ambulance is heard approaching in the distance.

Billy is wheeled into the hospital emergency room with Joey and Alana in tow.
Marty is following them, now able to walk.  The attending doctor chews out
Joey and Alana, not realizing that they weren't the ones who got him this
drunk.  He tells them that his blood alcohol level is 30% -- he has been
*poisoned*.  Alana tells the doctor that they weren't around when this
happened to them, and the doctor backs off slightly.  He is just really upset
to see anyone destroyed like this.  Marty almost looks sorry, listening to
all of this.  After the doctor leaves, Joey chews on Marty, telling her that
she could have KILLED Joey.  Marty  just goes back into her usual defensive
posture.  Joey blurts out, "Then why aren't *you* the one in there getting
their stomach pumped??"

Mrs. Douglas arrives, and asks the doctor what happened.  He levels with her,
and tells her that he has alcohol poisoning, and that he is having his
stomach pumped.  The doctor adds that it could go either way now: he might
recover, or he may slip into a coma.

Alana takes her turn this time in jumping on Marty, also asking her why she
isn't the one in the emergency room.  Marty just tries to blow it off, saying
that it was just a game.  Alana tells her, "Yeah, and Billy lost, right?"
Alan tries slapping her, but even in her groggy state, Marty catches her
hand.

The doctor comes out, and tells Joey and Alana that they may as well go home
for now.  They ask him if Billy will bee all right, and the doctor says that
he honestly doesn't know if he'll make it -- it could go either way.

-
Gregory Pratt                               "The problem with the gene pool
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute            is that there is no lifeguard."
Association for Computing Machinery                             --- unknown

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

Date:         Wed, 29 Jul 92 16:16:42 MST
From: Gabriel <G9348712%NMSUVM1.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
Subject:      splitting the community ??

Kevin writes:
It was not my intention to split the "community" of this net down the
middle between men and women.....

Just to be statistically correct:  As one of those men who took exception
to his comments, his statement is numerically and otherwise factually
false.  Unless I miscalculated, most posters supported Rebecca West (1913),
whether they were male or otherwise.

And, in the case that he (or someone) doesn't understand the commotion
about "fish:"  The word has been used in gay male circles for decades to mean
"women," referring specifically to vaginal odor; in my experience, it has
always been understood as quite pejorative, about as nice as "nigger" or
"breeder."  The word even shows up in poetry, in Christopher Isherwood's
"Sonnet on his Queerness," written some years ago (no later than 1976,
anyway).

This information provided for educational purposes only.  Insult not intended.

Gabriel (in New Mexico)

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

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 18:44:56 EDT
From: romickle@vassar.edu
Subject: Les renseignements, s'il te plait!

michael j pastor iii writes:
>Remember that there are
>conservative democrats out there (Bob Casey of PA).
And Bill Clinton & Al Gore (il mio senatore)!

> People have
>forgotten party ideals in favor of the candidates.  If you look at the
>democratic platform carefully, it is distinctly republican in flavor,
Word to the brothah!

>and if more lesbigay people would look at the founding ideas of the
>republican party, I think they would be shocked at how much more
>potentially pro-gay than the democratic it really is.
Could you clarify this? I, myself, have struggled to understand the
favorable relationship of individual rights and queer liberation (beyond
shallow arguements of privacy rights) and have yet to have any gay
republican or gay libertarian address the finer points of their ideology
when I asked.  And why is it that these gay republicans and libertarians
are (or seem to be) almost (if not exclusively) white and, more
importantly, male?  My structural-Marxist tendencies are quick to come to
conclusion, but I'm reserving judgement until I have more info.  Also, any
books to recommend to read up on the issue of gay liberation and support of
a republican and/or libertarian philosophy, preferably something that
treats the subject in a sophisticated manner?

>so vote for your ideals, not your candidates
Hard to do these days when none of the candidates share your ideals! :)

>michael j pastor iii
>a clinton republican
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Given the ever-increasing centrism of the Dems, this is NOT a
contradiction!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
R. Derrick Mickle,  Vassar College________ BLACK, GAY, AND PROUD!
         romickle@vassar.edu      \      /  Box 2699, Vassar College
         romickle@vassar.bitnet    \    /    Poughkeepsie NY 12601
 "I wear black on the outside 'cos  \  /      (914) 451- 2031
  black is how I feel on the inside" \/
               -Morrissey , newfound black activist?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Your existence is not in my paradigm."--me

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

Subject: Bank of America considering changing it's mind! [WRITE/CALL]
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 19:04:36 -0500
From: Ron Buckmire <buckmr@rpi.edu>

Michael Resonex writes on soc.motss:

In article <1992Jul27.202547.10192@PacBell.COM> rjwill6@PacBell.COM (Rod
 Williams) writes:
>A cryptic and disturbing announcement on this morning's
>local TV news -- that both Bank of America and Wells
>Fargo Bank are "considering" reversing their decisions
>to stop funding the Boy Scouts.

It probably won't hurt to repost the appropriate contact information.
Please find a moment and call and write them, especially if you are
a current or a new customer:


        Karen Wegmann, Executive Vice President
        Wells Fargo Bank
        420 Montgomery Street
        San Francisco, California     94163
        1-800-242-4932

        Bank of America
        Human Resources Department
        P.O. Box 16290
        Phoenix, Arizona     85011-6290
        1-800-352-0495

        Liz Ahern, Consumer Affairs Manager
        Levi Strauss
        1155 Battery St.
        San Francisco CA 94111
        1-800-872-5384


As was mentioned earlier, letters tend to carry more weight than phone
calls, but call if you can't make time to write...

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

Subject: Lesbian Wedding Announcement Controversy
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 23:41:03 -0500
From: Ron Buckmire <buckmr@rpi.edu>

Copyright 1992 by UPI
Reposted with permission from the ClariNet Electronic Newspaper newsgroup
clari.group.gays.  For more info on ClariNet, write to info@clarinet.com or
phone 1-800-USE-NETS.


	AUSTIN, Texas (UPI) -- A newspaper's decision to sell a lesbian couple
space for a photograph and story about their union has thrust both the
women and the newspaper into the center of a controversy.
	Sara Strandtman and Karen Umminger decided more than a year ago to
formalize their relationship with a ceremony, which was held last
weekend at the First Unitarian Church in Austin and attended by about 90
people.
	The Austin American-Statesman's decision to carry a paid notice of
the ceremony in its Sunday editions produced a barrage of calls to the
newspaper supporting and condemning the action.
	``Well I'd say we've received quite a few calls but they are probably
more in favor than in opposition,'' publisher Roger Kintzel said
Wednesday. He estimated that about 60 of the 100 calls supported
publication of the notice.
	Kintzel said he personally made the decision to accept the ad because
the newspaper established a policy about 18 months ago not to
discriminate in advertising on the basis of sexual orientation.
	Christian radio talk show host Jack Chambers called a news conference
Tuesday to denounce the notice, and other stations in the city say they
have been jammed with calls about the marriage.
	``It is an insult to the momentus, happy occasion of the other
married couples whose accounts of their weddings are portrayed on this
page,'' said Chambers. ``The purity of these pages has been marred by
the stain of immorality.''
	Chambers said the root of his criticism is that Texas law forbids
homosexual relationships and allows only people of the opposite sex to
be joined in marriage. But a state district judge has overturned the law
that makes same-sex relationships illegal, a ruling that has been upheld
on appeal and before the Texas Supreme Court.
	Officials of Austin radio station KLBJ said about 70 percent of the
calls it received Tuesday were opposed to the lesbian marriage and
unhappy that the American-Statesman treated the union the same as a
marriage between people of the opposite sex.
	When the newspaper carried a notice of the couple's engagement
several weeks ago without a picture, no complaints were made.
	Stradtman and Umminger are honeymooning in New Mexico and Colorado,
but in an interview before they left, both seemed surprised by the
reaction to their union and the newspaper's decision to carry the
announcement.
---
vox:(518)-276-8910 fax:(518)-276-6920 buckmr@rpi.edu buckmr@rpitsmts.bitnet
"In 1988 1800 homosexuals were dischaged from the military. The cost to train
them was $23 000 000. 35% of those discharged were women. Women make up only
5% of the military. " -- MTV's _Buzz_.

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

Subject: 1992 LAMMY AWARDS
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 23:50:40 -0500
From: Ron Buckmire <buckmr@rpi.edu>

The results of the 1992 Lambda Literary Awards (4th Annual) follow:

Fiction
WHAT THE DEAD REMEMBER by Harlan Greene
THE GILDA STORIES by Jewelle Gomez
THE REVOLUTION OF LITTLE GIRLS by Blanche Boyd

Anthology
CHICANA LESBIANS: THE GIRLS OUR MOTHERS WARNED US ABOUT, Edited By Carla
Trujillo
BROTHER TO BROTHER: New Writings by Black Gay Men, Edited By Essex Hemphill

Mystery
MURDER BY TRADITION by Kathleen Forrest
A COUNTRY OF OLD MEN by Joseph Hansen

Nonfiction
THE ZUNI MAN-WOMAN by Will Roscoe
CANCER IN TWO VOICES by Sandra Butler/Barbara Rosenblum

Poetry
AN ATLAS OF THE DIFFICULT WORLD by Adrienne Rich
THE ROAD BEFOE US: 100 Gay Black Poets, Edited By Assoto Saint

Science Fiction/Fantasy
THE DARK BEYOND THE STARS by Frank M. Robinson
THE GILDA STORIES by Jewelle Gomez

Gay and Lesbian Humor
PUTTING ON THE RITZ by Joe Keenan

Gay and Lesbian Small Press Award
GAY ROOTS: TWENTY YEARS OF GAY SUNSHINE, Edited by Winston Leyland

Gregory Kolovakos Award for AIDS Writing
TO THE FRIEND WHO DID NOT SAVE MY LIFE by Herve' Guilbert

Ferry-Grumley Foundation winners
THE REVOLUTION OF LITTLE GIRLS by Blanche McCrary Boyd
VANISHING ROOMS by Melvin Dixon






- -
RON BUCKMIRE, 54 Colvin Circle, Troy, NY 12180-3735. `D.C. in 93!''
uunet!rpi.edu!buckmr||buckmr@rpitsmts.bitnet||buckmr@rpi.edu||+1 518 276 8919
"I think every straight guy should have another man's tongue in his mouth
atleast once." -Madonna, quoted in NEWSWEEK, quoting from The ADVOCATE.

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

Subject: HIV+ Woman Requests To Speak At REPUBLICAN CONVENTION
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 23:53:37 -0500
From: Ron Buckmire <buckmr@rpi.edu>

From The New York Times (7/20/92):

    Mary D. Fisher, a member of a socially prominent Republican
    family, has asked to speak about AIDS at the Republican
    National Convention next month in Houston.  Ms. Fisher, who
    has tested positive for the HIV virus, would follow the
    precedent set by Bob Hattoy and Elizabeth Glaser, who spoke
    at the Democratic National Convention last week about having
    AIDS.

    "There have been discussions held since Mary gave testimony
    at the Republican platform hearings," in Salt Lake City in
    May, said A. James Heynen, a spokesman for Ms. Fisher.  "These
    have been informal conversations back and forth with people
    at the [Republican National] Committee or with people who have
    specific responsibilities for the convention."

    Ms. Fisher, an artist and a mother of two, could not be reached
    for comment.  As part of her testimony in May, she said, "Today
    I am asking you to help us, as Republicans and as Americans, to
    lift our shroud of silence and speak with the voice of
    compassion."

    Ms. Fisher's father, Max Fisher, is the honorary chairman of the
    Bush-Quayle '92 National Finance Committee.  In July 1991, she
    learned she had contracted the HIV virus, a condition she made
    public in February.  She is a consultant to the National
    Commission on AIDS and has lobbied Republican lawmakers about
    the disease.

    Joseph Fleming, a spokesman for the GOP convention, said the
    selection of speakers was not finalized.  "Everyone who was there
    in Salt Lake City was quite impressed with her testimony," he
    said.
-------------------------end of article-----------------------------------
--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
rod williams -=- pacific bell -=- san francisco -=- rjwill6@pacbell.com
---
RON BUCKMIRE
Fundraising Committee for the Procurement of a mesh tank-top for LL Cool J
54 Colvin Circle, Troy, NY 12180-3735
uunet!rpi.edu!buckmr||buckmr@rpitsmts.bitnet||buckmr@rpi.edu||+1 518 276 8919

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

Date: Thu, 30 Jul 92 00:38:53 EDT
From: Tim Pierce <twpierce@cs.amherst.edu>
Subject: gay republicans?

Michael J. Pastor, who seems perpetually without an account of his
own, writes from the account of "David M. Pahnos"
<dp0q+@andrew.cmu.edu>:

> When I promote Republican ideals, I'm not
> promoting George Bush (who was a liberal pro-choicer before he was
> Reaganized).

It's unclear, then, what the Republican ideals ARE that you promote.

> If you look at the
> democratic platform carefully, it is distinctly republican in flavor,
> and if more lesbigay people would look at the founding ideas of the
> republican party, I think they would be shocked at how much more
> potentially pro-gay than the democratic it really is.

And?  Whether or not each party's official platform is pro- or
anti-gay (or better yet, "potentially" pro-gay -- is that like "a
little pregnant?") is less important than whether the party's
candidates and speakers adhere to those professed values.

Republican leaders continually ally themselves, implicitly or
explicitly, with anti-gay causes and heterosexist rhetoric.  The most
extreme example is that of the White House speaker who clarified that
the "family values" Quayle has been jabbering about lately is a
euphemism for anti-homosexual sentiment.  It matters little to me
whether the Republican party platform is "potentially" pro-gay if nine
out of ten Republicans profess Quayle's, Dannemeyer's, or Bush's
stances on homosexuality.

> so vote for your ideals, not your candidates

Well said, and presumably the reason that you're "a Clinton
Republican."

-
____ Tim Pierce                / The Queer Resources Directory: access via
\  / twpierce@cs.amherst.edu   / anonymous ftp at nifty.andrew.cmu.edu in
 \/ (BITnet: TWPIERCE@AMHERST) / directory /pub/QRD.

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

From: Owen Plowman <owen@ca.oracle.com>
Subject: Living a lie
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 92 1:21:46 EDT

> From: COULPETG.JABBA@law.mail.cornell.edu (COULPETG)
> Subject: living a lie
> Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 08:49
>
> [...]
>
> Unfortunately in his speaking Thorne ...  spoke of those who CHOOSE to
> remain closeted as "living a lie."  ... I for one object to the comment
> when it is applied to those who are aware of and have accepted their
> non-heterosexual orientation and yet knowingly choose not to be out about it.
>
> There are very real reasons for remaining closeted.  [...]
>
> I think the phrase "living a lie" can/should only describe those people who
> are closeted but not having chosen it -- the folks described in one
> 'netter's sig file as "in a coma" about their orientation.
> ...
> I certainly don't understand how using the term in an accusatory way in
> hopes of bringing them out can be healthy or charitable.
>
> Peter Coulombe

I do not want to be accusatory, and I missed the original program with Lt.
Thorne, but I quite strongly disagree with what Peter has written above.

While I believe that, in practice, there some valid reasons for remaining
in the closet at certain times, I don't feel that this is really acceptable
from a moral or philosophical view.  If a person is still dealing with the
expression of their sexuality, and/or is at an early stage along the long
road of "coming out" (in the sense of admitting to *themselves* the truth
about their sexual feelings), then fine:  nobody should feel pressured to
come out publicly before they are ready.

If, however, a person accepts their sexual identity but then engages in
activities that attempt to hide it, I feel very deeply that this is wrong.  I
don't really think it is any less damaging than letting the person kick me in
the head.  Let me give you a few examples to illustrate what I mean from the
point of view of a gay man (since that's what I am):

o  a politician at some level (federal, for example) who hides his/her
   sexuality and votes for, or otherwise supports, anti-lesbigay legislation;
o  a man who does have an SO of the same sex, but who takes a female to an
   office party or a wedding, passing her off as his girlfriend;
o  a Catholic priest who is sexually active but who continues to promulgate
   the Church's teachings on the evils of homosexual behaviour;
o  a man who will not confront his father when his father talks about
   "fags" in a derogatory fashion;
o  a man who will not ask for same-sex spousal benefits even though his
   employer provides them and his partner could benefit from them.

I guess there are many more examples.

Obviously there are situations out there that prevent some people from coming
right out; Lt. Thorne could have stayed quiet since he knew that he would be
canned from the military machine if he went public.  The problem is that we
cannot expect to be treated "just like everyone else" (i.e. the straight
community) if we don't ALL stand up and show ourselves.  The (straight)
people in power (whether those making the laws in your country, those making
the policies in your office, or those making the rules in your home) will
just not think about us if they don't know we're there, and they won't care
about us either.  They'll just continue to go their merry little ways.

I have been very lucky with my experiences of being open.  Perhaps this has
made me biased.  Since day one with my current company I have been completely
out, and my sexuality is not an issue at all.  Maybe if I had joined a more
conservative company like, um, ... General Motors, for example, I would have
had more trouble.  But I hope very much that I would have had the courage to
stand up for my rights as a person, and tell them to go to hell if they
didn't like it.

[These opinions are mine and do not represent the views of Oracle Corporation.]
--
Owen Plowman 					      Oracle Corporation Canada
Director, Core Technology Marketing		      40 King Street West
						      Suite 4900, Box 117
(416) 866-8062 x. 250				      Toronto, Ontario
(oplowman@ca.oracle.com)			      M5H 3Y2

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

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