Newsgroups: bit.listserv.gaynet
Date:         Fri, 24 Jul 1992 16:35:05 -0400
From:         gaynet@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
Subject:      GayNet Digest Volume 5 Issue 574

In this issue:
                     Levi Strauss & Bank of America
                       The Dissed Campaign Worker
                              Tracy Thorne
                    GayNet Digest Volume 5 Issue 556
               Barry Goldwater - suuporter of gay rights
              Other things you can do... per Kev's request
                     THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE . . .
                         movies, art, and us...
                              unsubscribe

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

Date:         Fri, 24 Jul 92 08:52:30 EDT
From: "Dennis W. Creagh" <URDC%MARIST.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
Organization: Marist College
Subject:      Levi Strauss & Bank of America

Well, I finally called Levi Strauss and Bank of America. (Wells Fargo
is on today's hit parade.)  I also called from home and passed the
phone around to my four roommates who also offered their support.

Levi Strauss was pleased to hear from us and they said that at the
beginning of this month, they were getting mostly negative calls
but the calls have again shifted and the count is closer to 50/50.

I was really surprised with Bank of America.  The guy I spoke to
was almost speechless that he received a supportive phone call.  They
have been bombarded all month with only negative calls.

Come guys and girls.  I am assuming we helped swing the counts at
Levi Strauss, let's do the same for Bank of America.  They need
our support.

Also, thanks, Greg.  I really love the OLTL updates.

Dennis

============================================================================
Dennis W. Creagh              BITNET:   URDC@MARIST.BITNET
Marist College              Internet:   URDC@VM.MARIST.EDU
290 North Road
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601       "If ignorance is bliss, why are there still
914/575-3252                  so many sad people in the world."
============================================================================

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

Date: Fri, 24 Jul 92 09:29:08 EDT
From: romickle@vassar.edu
Subject: The Dissed Campaign Worker

THANK YOU! to our anonymous sender who sent not one BUT THREE articles on
the dismissal of a gay man from the the Bush-Quayle campaign, allegedly
(mm-hmm) because he is gay.

Some comments:

>   Campaign officials dispute the account of the worker, Tyler Franz, saying he
>was asked to move to a less-visible position because of complaints that he was
>being rude to people and not because he was homosexual.

I, of course, was never there to experience whether or not this man was
rude or not, but my eyebrows raise at these allegations.  One of the
articles states that two other campaign workers wanted Franz dismissed
because he is gay, according to Franz himself.  I am so *sure* Franz was
demoted because he was rude.

>Sheldon said he believed anyone should be able to work for a presidential
>candidate.
>   "What we object to is when that individual's sexual identity prohibits them
>from functioning rationally to the detriment of their employer," he said.

How could any queer support a party which allows these attitudes to surface
unchallenged?  If Lou Sheldon had said, "What we object to is when that
indivdual's racial identity prohibits them from functioning rationally,"
I'd call him a racist bigot.  Shouldn't it tell you something about the
Republican party when such nonsense is NOT denounced?

>"We stand firmly for non-discrimination. We have a policy of
 non-discrimination,
>and the president just won't tolerate discrimination of any sort."

Oh yeah? Then why doesn't he lift the ban on homosexuals in the military?

>   "He understood where I was coming from," Franz said of his discussion with
>Mosbacher. [BTW, Mosbacher's daughter is a lesbian.] "We talked openly about
 various forms of bigotry, racism,
>anti-Semitism. He said all campaigns will have staff who possess those
>characteristics."
Excuse me?!  This sounds like a rationalization to condone "those
characteristics."  (vomit, vomit) The question is not whether "those
characteristics" exist in all campaigns, it's what are you going to do
about eliminating "those characteristics" from campaigns.  The answer is
obvious: nothing.

>   Franz said he does not believe President Bush is biased against homosexuals,
>but he said "no one in that campaign is stopping the anti- gay rhetoric."
>   Asked about his claim that senior staff members of the Bush-Quayle campaign
>talk about "flaming faggots," Franz said the tone within the campaign was raw.
>   "It most definitely was," he said. "Commonly I overheard anti-gay statements
>said throughout the campaign, but most of it was focused within the department
>of coalitions, where the evangelical coalition had certainly started an
>insurgence as early as last March."

Franz, honey, GIRLFREN'!, WAKE UP!  The President has shown nothing BUT
biased angainst us.  How could you work for only $14,000  as the
President's attack dog, J. Danforth Quayle (with an "e") publicly denounces
your very person with his rantings and raving about being "pro-family", and
you endured verbal harassment in your workspace, you STILL actively
campaigned for him as your complaints fell on deaf ears, campaigned to keep
a man and his hoodlums in office who doesn't give a shit about us.  And
what about those co-workers of Franz who kept talking about those "flaming
faggots?"  Were any of them dismissed for verbal harassment--being rude?
Do you have an ounce of personal integrity?   Franz, you are as Morrisssy
so poignantly puts it a "girlfriend in a coma"--it's really serious.  I
hope the lawsuit speeds your recovery from the Republican party.





- -------------------------------------------------------------------
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?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To know and to not act is to not know.

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

Date: Friday, 24 July 92 08:29:23 CST
From: LLRLF%UTXDP.BITNET@utxvm.cc.utexas.edu
Subject: Tracy Thorne

There was a front page story in the UT Austin "Daily Texan" which stated that
Lt. j.g. Tracy Thorne predicted that there was a good chance that the
military's ban on gays would crumble due to his case. He also stated that
he believes he has a good chance of persuading the military board to recommend
keeping him in uniform.  "That'll be the beginning of the end of this policy,"
he said. "It'll crumble from there."
Pentagon policy is to discharge homosexuals from the military, but Luther
Zeigler, an attorney for Thorne, told the three-member panel that the Secretary
 of the Navy has authority to allow a gay officer to stay.
The article also stated that a similar board voted 3-0 to recommend an
honorable discharge for a California sailor, Petty Officer Keith Meinhold,
who also revealed his homosexuality on national television.
Comments, anyone?

Richard Foster
UT Austin, Texas

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

From: jlmccorm@mailbox.syr.edu (jeanne l. mccormick)
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 92 09:40:55 EDT
Subject: Re: GayNet Digest Volume 5 Issue 556
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.gaynet
Organization: Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

- ------
Both Joey and Billy are cute! But, I mist vote for the bill-ster..

-signed A lesbian who can appreciate a cute gay boy!!

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

Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 09:40:07 EDT
From: dwoolwin@cc.gettysburg.edu
Subject: Barry Goldwater - suuporter of gay rights

Barry Goldwater is not only a supporter of gay rights but in general is an
odd bird, something of a "principled conservative" ( a great rarity  -
almost an endangered species in the American political jungle - destroyed
largely by the  no-principled reactionary big money Reagan/Bush crowd, as
were the "liberal Republicans" of the "Mac" Mathias of Md, Rockefeller and
Javits of NY, Weiker of CN, Brook of Mass species - all dead, in fact, or
de facto as far as Republican politics is concerned. I realize that this is
ancient history for some on the net, but it is good to remember when
American politics was differently constituted.) Barry Goldwater also came
out in support of DC statehood (although that would mean, for him as a
white conservative Republican, the election of two liberal, probably Black,
highly likely Democratic, Senators) for the simple reason that the general
democratic principles argue that everyone deserves to vote for their own
representatives and govern themselves. (What a novel Lockean argument
-somehow it just hasn't caught on with the present Republican crowd!) He
was also a key figure, at the end of the Watergate crisis, in convincing
Tricky Dick to resign as part of a group of GOP "elder statesmen" who went
up to the white house hours before Nixon made his decision. Dick knew that
if Goldwater came out publically for his impeachment that it was a foregone
conclusion.
David E. Woolwine                         717-337-6187
Sociology and Anthropology Department     dwoolwin@cc.gettysburg.edu
Gettysburg College
Gettysburg, PA 17325

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

Subject: Other things you can do... per Kev's request
From: Larry Bliss <BLISS%MAINE.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
Date:    Fri, 24 Jul 92 10:48:56 EDT

Kev--

Here are some other things to think about doing:

Invite Terry (no last name) to come speak.  She's the woman who tried to
get her son involved with the Boy Scouts, but they refused because she
told them she was a lesbian.  She caused a national stir, and several
United Way campaigns have stopped giving money to the Boy Scouts until
they change their discriminatory nature.  She helped found "Forgotten
Scouts" for gays, and was a marshall in this year's San Francisco
Freedom Day parade.  She lives here in Portland, Maine, and has close
ties to Ithaca.  Let me know if you would like her home telephone
number or address; we're pretty close friends.

Organize some events around National Coming Out Day in October.  The
second week of October would be a good time to hold workshops on
homophobia in the classroom, homophobia and racism, etc.  Good
speakers might include Asherah Cinnamon from the National Coalition
Building Institute, Howard Solomon who teaches Gay and Lesbian History
at Tufts University, or someone from Governor Cuomo's Gay/Lesbian Task
Force.  Call me if you want phone numbers.

Organize some events around National Condom Week in February.  Call the
local Planned Parenthood agency, or the local Rape Crisis Center.  Both
can provide speakers and free condoms to distribute.  Tie the whole
thing to Valentines Day.

There's a very good book called Out On Campus: A How-To Manual of Gay
and Lesbian Campus Activism, written by Sean Crist.  It is designed
specifically for groups like yours.  You can get a copy from the
Association of College Unions-International, 400 E. Seventh Street,
Bloomington, IN  47405  Telephone (812) 332-8017.  Your Student Union
Director can probably help you here; most campus student centers are
members of ACU-I.

Good luck with all this!  Working with a student organization isn't
easy.  You really have to keep at it to maintain the momentum... but
it's worth it.  Let me know if I can help again.

Larry
*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*

Lawrence Bliss, Director/Advising and Career Services   | Live your life
University of Southern Maine                            |     as an
96 Falmouth Street, Portland, ME 04103                  |   exclamation,
(207) 780-4199                                          |     not an
BITNET: BLISS@MAINE.MAINE.EDU                           |   explanation!
        Bliss%Maine.Bitnet@mitvma.mit.edu

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

Date:        Fri, 24 Jul 92 14:03:42 EDT
From: "AAKL000@CATCC.bitnet  Kevin S. Lowery Catonsville"
 <AAKL%CATCC.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
Subject: THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE . . .

> Date: Thu, 23 Jul 92 13:44:58 EDT
> Subject: More films
> From: An Anonymous Sender
>
>        First, to revive a tired subject, did anyone _read_ SotL?  I
> personally thought the book much more clearly explained the TV, TS, gay,
> not-gay thing.  And, the character of Clarise is a much stronger person in
> the book.  The movie was very well done, but you are bound to lose the
> subtleties and dialogue a book allows.  I definately recommend it as a good
> weekend read, I was able to finish it cover to cover on a 6 hour flight
> from NY to LA.  Also, Lecter is so much more interesting.

Yes, I did and I think that your assessment is correct.  Although I
think that they did an excellent interpretation in keeping the story in
the book "true" for the movie, I think that the characters were richer
in the novel.  But in a way, I hate comparing them.  That is why I
read the book AFTER seeing the movie so as not to bias the characters
that the actors have created.  It is a whole different medium and to
judge one by the other I think is unfair.  I think that both were
excellent.  Books are always better no matter how good the movie is!
It is a shame that America's illiteracy rate is as high as it is!

>         OK, on another subject,  has anyone seen Wild At Heart by David
> Lynch?  I was horrified by this movie.  Speaking of films that trash
> women!!  It upset me enough that I left before it ended, crying and
> nauseous.  Do I think it should be censored, no.  Do I think I'd recommend
> it to my friends?  Only if they wanted to see a movie that would offend
> them.  I'm just curious what you all thought, if you care to comment that
> is.

I guess I saw it differently coming from a male point of view.  Yes,
the feminist in you is probably outraged at this, but I cannot change my
viewpoint of it unless it truly is biased and biggotted (sp?) and am
willing to listen to opposing viewpoints.

First of all, you must understand DAVID LYNCH.  Come back to me when you
do, I have been trying for years (even though I am a fanatic.  I
loved BLUE VELVET, TWIN PEAKS, and WILD AT HEART!)  So, maybe I am not
the best unbiased person to comment on it.  Laura Dern's character is
pretty good.  I think that she is the most believeable.  I think that
her mother was a BITCH with a capital B!  Everyone seemed like they
were real smarmy except Laura Dern and Nicholas Cage's characters.
The filming and the way DL does it is always the clincher for me!

Now as far as being a man's interpretation of a woman, I can't say
that it isn't, but I can't say that the performances of the women
were bad.  They were all women driven to excess and maybe it was THAT
that bothered you more than anything.  I don't think that is TOO
unrealistic.  It may not happen to most of us, but who says that it
doesn't happen at all?
>
>                                             LOCKE
>
> "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

Woah, chill out baby!  Nobody is callin' you a doormat or a prostitute!
I am not saying that discrimination isn't out there, but this sig file
has a hard edge that is rather uncomfortable.  Can we be a little more
positive?

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

Date: 24 Jul 1992 12:00:19 -0700 (PDT)
From: Matt <MSLOAN@POMONA.CLAREMONT.EDU>
Subject: movies, art, and us...
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT

I so agree with Michele's keffer's post...sorry I can't reproduce it but some
of us are just not that apt quite yet...

The question is not whether said movie is good or bad art, but rather whether
it is offensive, incorrectly portraying a group of people. I would never vote
to censor such a film, but what then is to be done?

It is not so much that said movie offends my gentle sensibilities but that
there are I don't know how many young queers out there watching it being choked
by the message it sends. I don't believe they are aware enough to extract some
crazy doctor's rantings to understand that said gay wacko is not gay. And then,
I remember films I saw as a youth and remember what that did to me. I don't
think that straight kids see films with wacky straight portrayals and then
agonize over the possiblility that they will end up or are like that.

So, when I jump up on my soapbox, it isn't so much to stop people from seeing
these films, it's to let certain people know that most queers are pretty damn
normal - just like them.

Matt

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

Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 15:54 EDT
From: DATAR@NSRCL1.MIT.EDU
Subject: unsubscribe

Please unsubscribe datar@uornsrl, datar@nsrl31.nsrl.rochester.edu.

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

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