il ii
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(GAU, cont. from p. 2)
Other topics receiving awards or
honorable mentions included studies
of gay alcoholism, lesbian poetry,
and Jewish lesbians.
Established in 1978, the scholar
ships are heavily dependent on indivi
dual tax-deductible contributions,
which may be sent to;
GAU Scholarship Fund
P.O. Box 927
Los Angeles, CA 90028
gml urges support for bill
The Gay Rights National Lobby is
uji'ging gay people around the country
to help pass the first Senate gay
rights bill, S-2081, recently intro
duced by Massachusetts Democrat Paul
Tsongas.
GRNL urges a three-point plan of
action:
•Demonstrate the need for legisla
tion. Local organizations should pub
licize employment discrimination cases,
bring them to the attention of sena
tors and send docutments of such dis
crimination to GRNL,
•Meet with your senators. Direct
lobbying by gay constituents can
have major impact. Contact GRTJL
for up-to-date information on your
senator’s stand on gay rights.
•Build support within your state.
Lobby state and local leaders and
organizations to endorse S-2081.
Send the names and addresses of the
endorsers to GRNL.
"Our ability to advance national
lesbian and gay male civil rights
legislation is directly related to
the cooperation and communication we
maintain with grassroots activists
around the country," GPvNL lobbyist
Steve Endean said.
For more information, contact:
Gay Rights National Lobby
1606 - 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
Phone 202) 462-4255
activists celebrate release
The parole of the Rev. Ben Chavis
from a North Carolina prison on
Dec, 14, was a cause for celebration
of a number of San Francisco gay
activists.
Chavis, the last of the Wilming
ton 10 left, in prison, had been sen
tenced to 25-29 years on charges of
arson and conspiracy after the 1971
burning of a black church in
Wilmington, N.C.
The Case drew internatipnal at
tention when'all three witnesses
against the ten accused, nine black
men and one white woman, recanted
by stating that they had lisd at the
trial because of coercion and bri
bery by the prosecution
Among the groups calling for
Chavis’ release was the San Francisco
Board of Supervisors, which unani
mously passed a resolution in
November 1979 demanding his early
parole. This was a direct result of
resolutions introduced by gay acti
vist Robert Basher and passed by
the city’s three gay Democratic
clubs; Stonewall, Alice B. Toklas,
and Harvey Milk.
In a recent interview Basher said,
"I’m trying to get the left-wing and
civil rights movements to accept gay
rights as part of human rights.
"People on the left often accuse
gays of being interested only in
their own rights. Too often it has
been true. Rights are indivisable.
You can’t take away the rights of
any group without affecting the
rights of all people,"
Iranians can resist deportation
Gay Iranians who face deporta
tion may be able to use their homo
sexuality as a defense to remain in
the United States, according to the
Front Page.
Because of the execution of gay
men in Iran last year, openly gay
Iranian students may assert that
they would be in danger by return
ing to their homeland. A successful
hardship petition would delay or de~
‘.feat deportation.
Any alien already in the country
who has passed through the Immigra
tion Service is entitled to due pro
cess of law.
The International Gay Associa
tion will work with local American
groups to assist gay Iranians to
secure legal counsel. If a gay stu
dent is deported from the United
States and feels that it is impos
sible to raise her or his homosex
uality as an issue during public
hearing, the IGA will try to locate
another residence.
Identities will be kept confi
dential. Fore more information,
contact;
Gay Community Center
1469 Church St., NW
Washington, DC 20005