From: Michael Doherty <doherty@ucsu.Colorado.EDU>
Subject: Colo Daily: Newsletter to create voice for gays
Followup-To: amend2-discuss@cs.colorado.edu
Originator: doherty@ucsu.Colorado.EDU
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 07:16:37 GMT

Colorado Daily,                         reprinted without permission
Boulder Colorado 
12/14/92

Newsletter hopes to create voice for gays

Peter Pochna, Colorado Daily Staff Writer

     Colorado's passage of Amendment 2 has led to tough times for
Boulder's gay community, so a CU student and a community activist are
responding with a monthly newsletter called QueerTimes to help smooth
the road ahead.
     The newsletter is aimed at organizing the gay community in its
fight against Amendment 2 and providing gays with an information
source not available in the mainstream media, said Ryon Brame, a CU
senior business major and one of the newsletter's editors.
     Amendment 2 prohibits state, county or city governments from
adopting or enforcing any law that seeks to protect homosexuals,
lesbians and bisexuals from discrimination. It repeals such laws in
Boulder, Denver and Aspen.
     "One thing we have learned in the months leading up to the
election was that there wasn't a lot of communication in the gay
community about various events," Brame said. "Although there's a
strong gay and lesbian population here, we don't have a sense of
community."
     The first edition is scheduled for publication, and Brame said
about 500 people already have signed up for the free subscription.
Along with the mailings, about 1,000 of the newsletters will be
distributed around town at "gay-friendly" stores, he said.
     Colorado voters approved Amendment 2 on Nov. 3, and the
newsletter is one of the few good things that has resulted from its
passage, according to David Young, a Chicano community activist who
is the newsletter's other editor.
     "Out of disaster comes opportunity," said Young. "With Amendment
2 people are angry. They have a lot to say and want to do whatever
they can to get involved. There has been a lot of overwhelming
support for the newsletter."
     Along with providing a gay voice, the newsletter will provide a
voice for people of color, Young said.
     "The perspective from gay media is very white," he said. "We
want people of color to be able to express their point of view.
People can write whatever they want, and we will print it."
     A gay newsletter called Melting Pot was published in Boulder in
1987, but a lack of support pushed the paper out of business after
only a few editions. Because of the activist energy Amendment 2 has
generated, Young is confident QueerTimes will not suffer a similar
fate.
     Individual contributions and advertising are funding the effort,
and while some local advertisers are leery of being affiliated with a
gay publication, Brame said most advertisers have been supportive.
     "They know that gays are loyal to advertisers in the gay press,
because gays know that advertising in the gay press is a risky thing
to do," Brame said.
     Some people are hesitant to subscribe to the newsletter, because
they don't want people to see it in their homes, Brame said. To help
overcome this problem, Brame said people can request the newsletter
in an unmarked envelope.
     The first publication will focus on the many organizations that
have announced boycotts of Colorado since the passage of Amendment 2.
It will also include a number of regular sections such as a community
calendar, a community resource guide, and a section called Out and
Proud, which will feature interviews with gays in Boulder.
     "We want to provide role models for youth and dispel myths about
gays," Brame said.


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