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State And Local News
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(WASG, cont. from p. 4)
’’Our aim is to make an atmosphere
safe for the women to explore their
feelings for other women, whether
these result from actual experiences
or desired ones,"
Present participants are mostly
from the Durham and Chapel Hill
communities. The group, started
in 1978, meets weekly in members*
homes. Meetings are usually dis
cussions, although guest speakers
are under consideration for future
meetings.
Interested women should call
929-7702 or 286-7880.
Letters
It is suggested that social sup
port can: aid recovery from surgery;
protect against clinical depression
in the face of adverse events; re
duce psychological distress and
physical symptoms following job loss
and bereavement; protect against the
development of emotional problems
which can be associated with aging;
and help keep patients in needed
medical treatment; and promote ad
herence to needed medical regimens.
These studies are based on vari
ous hypotheses. They include that:
social support has a direct effect
on health; social support provides
a buffer against the effects of high
stress; social support stimulates the
development of coping strategies;
and the lack of social support iten—
sifies the impact of stressful life
events.
What does this mean to gay people?
There are two particularly striking
examples. Gay people who are placed
in Intensive Care Units are not only
disoriented because of the hospital
environment but are isolated from
their friends and lovers.
Gay people are also denied expres
sion of feelings and appropriate emo
tional support following the death
of a loved one.
There are many other situations
in which gay people are under stress
v/ithout the support they want and
need from their gay support systems
and without recognition of their pain*
ful situation by potentially suppor
tive non-gays.
In working for our rights, let us
not forget that we are not asking
for luxuries, but rather pressing
for the right to have what we need—
be it a place to live, a job, or
the presence of significant others
when we are under much stress.
Claire, from Chapel Hill
gay stigma affects mountain
Gay Mountain isn’t quite as gay
as it used to be. Officially, Gay
Mountain, NC doesn’t even exist any
more.
It was renamed Misty Mountain
by a recent vote of the property
owners’ association of the community
4 miles west of Blowing Rock.
According to the Charlotte
Observer, things were never meant to
be gay, in the homosexual sense of
the word.
The development was named after
Gaylord "Gay" Williams, Sr., a
retired businessperson of Bal
Harbour, Fla,
Williams, 71, said, "Some people
I sold some land to years ago named
it Gay Mountain, after me,"
"I’ve been called Gay all of my
life. But in the last four or five
years we’ve had some snickering
about the damn name. I thought
I’d be quiet and it’d go away. But
it didn’t.
"The property owners wanted to
change the name. I didn't argue.
I have no regrets about the change.
I’m planning to build a new home up
there this year."
Forty of .the approximately 60
property owners have built on their
lots,
"We had quite a bit of dislike of
the name in recent years because of
the gay movement," said !Iary Turner,
a year-round resident.
Some real estate agents encountere-.
customers who balked at buying in Gay
Mountain.
"We’ve had quite a few negative
comments from clients (potential buy
ers)," said Alex Hallmark, a partner
in Hallmark Realty, "They’d say,
*0h, ho. We’re not going to live
out there,’"
•
When the property owners’ assoc
iation voted on changing the name,
not everyone wanted to change,
Mrs. Turner recalled, "One woman
said, 'If we change the name, we
won’t have anything to talk about,*"
gay aa to form
A gay Alcoholics Anonymous group
is forming in the Chapel Hill/
Durham area. For more information,
call 967-5193 or 942-7941 in Chapel
Hill or 688-6785 in Durham.
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