Newsgroups: bit.listserv.gaynet
Date:         Wed, 29 Jul 1992 05:17:02 -0400
From:         gaynet@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
Subject:      GayNet Digest Volume 5 Issue 584

In this issue:
                    OLTL (Friday, Monday, & Tuesday)
                   my contribution to the .sig debate
                    my last comment on sig-file/WaH
                      A question for James Harkins
                       Clinton's approval rating
                         What Is QueerNet.Org?
                            Lt. Tracy Thorne

Please send messages for the entire list to gaynet@ATHENA.MIT.EDU,
requests to be added or deleted to gaynet-request@ATHENA.MIT.EDU, and
personal replies directly to the other person, not the entire list.
Postings to GayNet are public communications.  If you must keep your
privacy, send your messages to gaynet-anonymous@ATHENA.MIT.EDU.

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

From: Greg Pratt <aragon@lachesis.acm.rpi.edu>
Subject: OLTL (Friday, Monday, & Tuesday)
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 92 17:09:51 EDT

All right, ALL RIGHT!  I missed posting synopses for yesterday and Friday;
I'll summarize them with today's encapsulation.

On Friday, the show opens on a different note than the storyline I've been
monitoring, but Kevin (who is acting like a real asshole in a certain custody
battle), upon hearing for Viki that his younger brother Joey is at the
Community Center, asks Viki if it's safe for him to be down there.  Viki
tells him she is concerned, but she is also proud that he is so brave.

Jason, another character in the show, later comes to Reverend Carpenter for
advice on something.  When their talk is done, Andrew comments to Jason that
a lot of people don't come to him for advice anymore, the way they used to.
Jason  turns and tells him, "Anyone who's not coming to you for a shot of
advice... they don't know what they're missing."

I don't think there was really much between here and the end of the show.
Sloan tells Andrew of his illness, and an argument ensues (as usual) about
Andrew's refusal to disclose his sexual orientation.  They at least
reassemble peaceably, but as they are leaving the building, we see the word
"FAG" spraypainted on the door in large black letters.  Andrew shakes his
head, and we hear someone shouting in the distance: "You're a faggot!" and we
see a clod of dirt narrowly miss Andrew, and hit his father instead.  There
is a sound of an automobile quickly driving off.


Monday's show picks right up at this point, with Andrew and his father in
Andrew's office, Sloan cleaning the dirt off of his suit jacket.  Yet another
argument ensues, but this time we have the added bonus of the sentiment of
"dad's dying wish" added to it.  Both of the characters are so stubborn that
I suspect this is what is used to create the impasse, and drag it out even
further.

Later, Elizabeth MacNamara (the bitch from the vestry meeting) pays a house
call to Viki.  She informs them that she is leading a group of "concerned
citizens" who were not at all satisfied with the vestry vote.  They are,
independent of their church positions, taking action to get Reverend
Carpenter to resign.  Viki is horrified at their attempting to override due
process based on personal prejudice.  Elizabeth is adamant, stating, "This
matter is far from settled... we will not rest until Andrew Carpenter is
*gone*."

Maggie, the investigative assistant to the D.A. (Hank Gannon), stops by
Andrew's office to take an incident report regarding the vandalism at the
center.  She has known Andrew from an almost-relationship, so they are on
friendly terms.  Maggie asks him herself if she is gay; Andrew asks her why
it matters, and Maggie tells him that she is worried that something might
have been wrong with her for him to not get into a relationship with her way
back when, and that his being gay (if he were) would explain it.  Andrew
doesn't answer the question of sexual orientation, but does tell Maggie that
nothing was wrong with her at all.  She goes away feeling a lot better, and
commenting that she no longer thinks the question really matters.

Viki and Sloan are discussing Andrew's position, as well as the new threat
from Elizabeth and her committee.  Sloan tells Viki that they seem out to get
Andrew, and Viki responds that they aren't just looking to get him, "They're
determined to destroy Andrew."  Shortly thereafter, Sloan has some kind of
attack, and collapses on the table.  Viki calls an ambulance, and then calls
Andrew to tell him what has happened, and to meet her at the hospital.


TUESDAY: Andrew is talking with his father, and another argument ensues, even
though he is weak and in a hospital bed.  Viki converses outside with a
doctor, who tells her that stress is the last thing he needs, as Andrew and
Sloan continue to have a battle of words in the room.  The attacks, he says,
will get worse with more and more stress.

Joey is at the community center with Rachel (Hank Gannon's daughter), trying
to take the glass out of the window that was broken days earlier by a rock
thrown through it.  Kevin arrives, and shows Joey how to repair the window,
saying how he was doing it would probably result in another pane being
broken.  He does the work, and the result is a new window pane where the
broken one existed.  Kevin tells Joey he should come home with him, and Joey
refuses, saying he'll be okay.  Kevin is insistent, telling Joey, "This isn't
the time to go play poster boy for a bunch of..." (his voice trails off).  "A
bunch of *what*?" asks Joey, angrily.  He then leaves after telling Kevin he
can't believe he ever picked Kevin to confide in about Billy's sexuality.

Billy and his mother are at the country club.  Billy is having a milkshake,
but is definitely not enjoying it, or being with his mother.  His mother
starts to bring up the vote for Reverend Carpenter, and Billy tells her that
he just wants  to forget all about that.  She nudges further forward, asking
him if there is something more -- something he hasn't told her.  Billy gets
really nervous, and senses that she is on to his secret.  She tells him that
he can tell her anything, and she won't be angry, ashamed, or judge him.  She
then tells him about something she did in her youth, when she was probably
younger than Billy is now.  There was a make-up case that she fell in love
with at a local store, and kept looking at it.  At $12, she couldn't possibly
afford it.  Then, one day, after two weeks of looking, she did more than just
look at it.  Billy actually smiles: "You STOLE the make-up case?" (he cannot
believe that his mother would shoplift something).  She then goes on to tell
him that she kept it  under her pillow for days, but she finally threw it
out.  Why, Billy asks.  Because, his mother explains, she couldn't stand
keeping the secret, or of her parents finding out.  So she threw it away.
Billy is kind of touched, but then his mother mentions being able to talk to
her about anything, and/or his father, and that sets Billy off.  He tells
her, "No, nothing's going to be okay..." and walks out of the dining room.

Viki and Andrew are outside of Sloan's room, talking about Sloan's illness,
as well as the rumors.  They both finally agree that something needs to be
done to put an end to this -- find the source of the rumors and stop them.
Andrew doesn't *know* who started the rumors, but he strongly suspects Marty.
He tells Viki that without any proof, however, there is no way to stop her.

Marty drops into the community center, where Rachel is left preparing to lock
up the building.  She is polite, but you can tell that she doesn't like Marty
one bit.  Billy comes in, probably from the country club, looking for Joey.
Joey has long since left, and Rachel leaves Billy to lock up the building.
Marty is still there, and talks Joey into having a drink with her (she has a
large bottle in her bag).

Cassie and her mother Dorian are at the country club talking when Andrew
comes in.  Dorian looks to be almost ready to leave (to leave them in
privacy, not out of spite) when a young man comes over and tells Andrew that
he will have to leave -- his membership has been revoked.  Cassie, Dorian,
and Andrew are all livid; the young man tells him that he personally supports
him, but it was a decision of the country club, and it's his job.  Andrew
tells him it's okay (don't shoot the messenger of bad news), and quietly
leaves.  Cassie decided to stay with Dorian instead of go with Andrew.  She
later tells her mother that she is a coward, and quickly leaves the dining
room herself.

Billy and Marty are now slightly tipsy, and Marty invites him to play a game:
truth or dare.  You have to answer one question (it goes in turns).  If you
refuse to answer a question completely truthfully, you have to chug down
another drink.

The first question is from Billy: why did you (Marty) come here?  She said
she had nothing better to do.  Marty returns the question, and Billy responds
by telling her that he doesn't know.  And he doesn't know why he is here
getting drunk with Marty.  The last time this happened, after all, he wound
up in a hospital with burns on his arm.  He then comments that maybe a
hospital is where he belongs.  Billy then asks Marty if she's ever been in
love; she tells him yes, and that the last time didn't work out because
someone (Reverend Carpenter) "was too holy for [her]."  Marty again turns the
question back on Billy.  Billy sighs, and says yes.  Marty asks Billy, "Who
was the lucky guy?" and Billy just looks at her, a bit mad and frightened.

Andrew has a dream: Cassie coming back into his life, through his office
door.  We then see Marty step in, dominating the picture, with just a towel
on.  The scene changes to a prison cell, where Sloan is wearing his military
uniform, and we see a hand with a gun shooting him. Sloan croaks out,
"Andrew!" before slumping to the ground.  We then here someone yelling,
"Andrew!  Andrew" in a similar voice, and Andrew wakes up.  He had fallen
asleep in his office with his saxophone in his lap, and someone is now trying
to get him to answer his door.  He goes to the door and opens it, and it is
Bishop Graham, the man whom Elizabeth had said she would be demanding his
resignation from.  Bishop Graham is not at all happy to see Andrew, telling
him that he's "in big trouble young man... very big trouble indeed."

Billy and Marty are now *quite* drunk.  Marty is now pummeling Billy with
questions such as, "How long have you known you were that way?"  Billy asks,
"WHAT way?", and Marty says, "Gay!"  Billy doesn't answer, but just chugs
down another drink.  Marty asks him, "Have you ever been with a girl?" and
comments about how he shouldn't knock what he hasn't tried.  Billy takes down
yet another drink.  Billy then gives her a question: has she been the one who
started the rumors about him and Andrew Carpenter?  Marty tells him that the
game suddenly got "quite boring," and she takes down a drink.

The bishop, in talking to Andrew, is quite adamant that he end the rumors
quickly, even if that means putting his principles into cold storage for a
while.  He adds that "If [he] doesn't clean up his act, [the bishop will]
pick up [his] broom with both hands, and sweep the house clean."

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

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

Date: Tue, 28 Jul 92 15:01:26 -0700
From: sarahb@womyn.esd.sgi.com (Sarah Broadwell)
Subject: my contribution to the .sig debate

"I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is.  I
only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that
differentiate me from a doormat, or a prostitute."   -Rebecca West, 1913

or fish!!
--sarah

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

Date: 28 Jul 92 18:02:44 EDT
From: Thanalakshmi.Subramaniam@Dartmouth.EDU
Subject: my last comment on sig-file/WaH

*i'm not saying anything more abt the sig-file because i think the last
gaynet had excellent responses
*re PoT and WaH- why are u putting words in my mouth, kevin? i never even
mentioned prince of tides in my original posting- i was talking about the one
scene in Wild At Heart that upset me. i never said that male child abuse was
less traumatic than rape of a woman etc. there is no need to set up male
child abuse against the attempted rape of a grown woman and thenimply that i
am applying some sort of double standard, when i was not inviting comparisons
between the two movies anyway.
*sheesh*
shimi

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

Date: Tue, 28 Jul 92 17:29:44 -0500
From: Kara Blackowiak <kara@pemrac.space.swri.edu>
Subject: A question for James Harkins

James,

I did not partake in the sigfile war, could *YOU* give me directions
to the "pathetic attitudes shitpile"?

thanks, kara

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

Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 22:47 CST
From: SIMERLGD@SLUVCA.SLU.EDU
Subject: Clinton's approval rating

Greg Pratt suggested that Clinton's high approval rating is likely because
of the Democratic convention. This is undoubtedly part of the reason that
Clinton is perceived so positively. Another reason, I suspect, is the recent
announcement concerning the unemployment rate. In spite of these reasons, we
should keep in mind the incredible margin between Clinton and Bush. I don't
remember the figures, but Clinton has the largest lead of any recent
remember the figures, but Clinton has the largest lead of any recent
remember the figures, but Clinton has the largest lead of any recent
Democratic "hopeful." I think he and Gore really have a chance at winning.
If they do win, maybe we'll see Clinton, as a previous post stated "wave
his hand" and make the military ban on g/l disappear. I hope y'all feel the
same way and vote for Clinton/Gore. If not, vote anyway! and be heard. Besides,
I've always felt better about bitching if I've voted.

Cheers,
Greg Simerly
Department of Communication
Saint Louis University
simerlgd.sluvca.slu.edu
simerlgd.sluvca

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

Date:         Tue, 28 Jul 92 21:18:54 MST
From: MHERBERT@ARIZVM1.ccit.arizona.edu

Regarding Prince of Tides - in the book Tom was eighteen when he and his
family were raped by the escaped prisoners.  It was the summer after his
high school graduation.  Interesting that in the movie adaptation the
children were all portrayed as much younger.  I wonder if it was somehow
seen as less "offensive" to have a young (i.e., vulnerable) boy raped as
opposed to a young man?  Not a statement, just a thought.

BTW - Thanks to those whose explanation(s) of the difference between a
negative descriptor of all women and an empowering statement by one woman
had more clarity than I could have found with which to express my thoughts
on the subject.

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

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 05:34 GMT
From: Randall C Gellens <0005000102@mcimail.com>
Subject: What Is QueerNet.Org?

I've seen postings in some digests from people with a QueerNet.Org address.
Is this a net address for a gay organization such as Queer Nation?

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

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 06:05 GMT
From: Randall C Gellens <0005000102@mcimail.com>
Subject: Re: Lt. Tracy Thorne

DRPINELL@CC.OWU.EDU (Dan Pinello) writes:

> I watched Lt. Tracy Thorne being interviewed last night on Larry King
> Live.  Thorne, the quintessential boy-next-door, very favorably
> impressed me.  Besides being very handsome....

I saw the show, as well as an earlier Larry King with someone who filed a
lawsuit against the Republican party or Bush's reelection campaign (I forget
which) saying he was demoted because he is gay.

I have been impressed with Larry's having these guests on his show, and the way
he handles them and the homophobic counter-guests.

In the Tracy Thorne show, Larry had two former deputy under-secretaries of
defense on, one who supported Tracy and one who did not.  The one who did not
was spouting nonsense about homosexuals causing 80% of all STDs, how their
presence would cause a breakdown in command and cohesion, etc.  Larry asked
the other guests about the actual performance of gays and Lesbians during the
Gulf war (the other dus mention the "stop-loss" procedure that halted the
discharges gays and lesbians during the war, only to restart proceedings
afterwards, regardless of how well anyone performed).  He then asked the
homophobe to explain how gays and lesbians could do so well under actual
combat.  The guy changed the subject.  Too bad Larry didn't pursue it.

(I do admit to feeling that it is a bit odd for gays to whine about being
discriminated against by the Republican party (along with the pro-choicers)
since that party has made it quite plain that they do not welcome gays,
lesbians, or pro-choice people.  Sort of like a Black person objecting to
the KKK not hiring him.  In my opinion, people should work for candidates
who support them, not candidates who hate or aid people who hate.)

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

End of GayNet Digest
********************
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU