Newspapers / Lambda (Carolina Gay and … / Oct. 1, 1987, edition 1 / Page 2
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October 1987 The Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association is an "officially recog nized, sani-independent" student organization at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The CGLA is funded by the democratic vote of the Student Congress and through CGLA fundraising activities. @ 1987 by the Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association All material appearing in Lambda is protected by federal copyright law ^d may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the express permission of the publisher. T^mhda can assume no liability for errors, whether made by the original writer or by Lambda in editing or production, beyond the printing of a correction or retraction. Opinions expressed by columnists, photographers or by any other artistic expression are those of the writers and artists and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Lambda or the Carolina Gay and Lesbian Associ ation. Publication of the name, pho tograph or likeness of any person or organization in the articles or adver tising in Lambda does not imply and is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such persons or organizations. We welcome your comments, criti cisms, and information. If you would like to be part of the staff, call the CGLA office; if no Lambda staff member is available then, we'll return your call. Lambda is distributed free on the UNC-CH campus at the Carolina Union and many campus libraries. Subscrip tions by bulk mail in plain envelope are $4.00 per year (see subscription form elsewhere in this issue). Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association CB^ 5210, Carolina Union Box 39 Univ. of N.C. at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 27599 Office: 216-B Carolina Union (919) 962-4401 Editor: Mark Donahue Production Manager: Jim Duley Racism In The Gay Community Picture this: Friday or Saturday night at the Power Company, the only gay bar serving the Durham-Chapel Hill area. You're a black person, waiting in line with three or four black friends, ready to dance and have a festive evening. Upon airriving at the check-in desk with money in hand, the attendant asks for a rronbership card. No one in your party has one. So the attendant turns you away. You notice, on your way out, a group of white people coming in. The group pays, gets stamped, and enters the bar. You wonder if they showed a membership card. You know the attendant didn't ask for one, and you wonder why. Could it be because they're white and you're black? One would think that nothing like this goes on here, but in the back of your mind you can't shake the feeling that you have just been discriminated against because of your race. I can honestly say that incidents such as this do happen, and rather frequently. I'm a black person and have experienced a situation such as the one described above. Since most of my college friends are white, I typically go to the bar with them, and in these cases we are very rarely asked to show a membership card. In these cases, no one in our group had a moTibership card, nor were we asked for one. Many have told me stories of how groups of black people are turned away fron the bar because of no manbership card, so I knew this is not just one person's perception. It is very difficult to deal with racial discrimination in the heterosexual conmunity. To encounter it in the gay community, where I also have minority status, is doubly burdensome. Since The Power Gempany is the only bar for lesbians and gays in this area, it would be extremely generous for this bar to make an extra effort not to appear discriminatoiry. Surely, one could make the argument that all we need to do is buy a membership card. However, that misses the point. It is not econcmically sensible for those who go to the bar infrequently to purchase a card. The problem is the verification process. Either the bar should check everybody's membership or admit those they know do not have one. - Greg Johnson
Lambda (Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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Oct. 1, 1987, edition 1
2
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