LAMBDA
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The Carolina Gay & Lesbian Association Newsletter
Volume 15, Number 4
April 1989
flnti-CGLfl Legislation Introduced
A new bill introduced by Stephen Arnold
(R-Guilford) would compel the UNC Board
of Governors to "adopt rules that no
state funds and no student fees are
used, whether directly or indirectly,
to permit or promote any gay and
lesbian association or any other
community or campus organization that
advocates immoral, illegal or criminal
behavior" at any UNC-system school.
This legislation would also prohibit
any organization so defined from using
campus buildings and facilities. The
ban on use of state funds and campus
buildings and facilities would make
this measure much more far-reaching
than previous proposals to eliminate
use of student fees to fund gay and
lesbian associations. The bill is
directed primarily at the Carolina Gay
and Lesbian Association and NC State's
Lesbian and Gay Student Union (as the
only gay and lesbian groups which
receive student fees) but would also
affect groups at UNC-Charlotte and UNC-
Greensboro which assemble in campus
buildings.
There is some precedent for this t3rpe
of legislation. The Speaker Ban of
1963 sought to refuse free speech on
campus to any Communisit or perceive
Communist. When the Speaker Ban
threatened UNC's accreditation, the law
was hastily revoked. Another past case
is Gay and Lesbian Student Association
V. Gone. In this case, the University
of Arkansas sought to defund the Gay
and Lesbian Association on that campus.
The Circuit Appeals Court ruled that
the state has no obligation to provide
money for campus organizations, but
that it can not selectively defund a
group because of the content of its
speech.
The 1989-90 budget for CGLA is $4,281,
of which $2,131 was allocated by
Student Congress. The money will
support LAMBDA ($2,080), Lesbian and
Gay Awareness Week ($1010, including
$750 in speakers' fees and $260 for
publicity and film rental), outreach
programs ($50) and administrative
continued on page 5
Varied Events at Rmareness Week
From April 9 to April 15, CGLA held its
annual Lesbian and Gay Awareness Week.
Although I missed a couple of the
events--notably Deidre McCalla s
concert that closed the week--I enjoyed
the sessions I attended and found them
informative. Here's my report:
Rap Session With Black Lesbians and Gay
Men
The first educational event of
Awareness Week was a rap session with
black lesbians and gay men, aimed at
providing insight into the particular
problems faced by this portion of our
community. The discussion was led by
Mandy Carter, a CGLA heroine. We
concluded that homosexuality is a
special stigma in the Black community
because of the pervasive presence of
conservative Christian churches. This
religious bias is reflected in most of
the problems faced by black lesbians
and gay men; a particular example is
AIDS.
The stigma associated with AIDS and
people living with AIDS is especially
strong in the Black community. For
this reason, AIDS information was hard
to find in Black community centers for
many years. Tlie fact that AIDS is
disproportionately prevalent in the
Black community makes this lack of AIDS
education particularly tragic.
Rap Session With Bisexuals
L.D. Newman, who is preparing a program
for RAs on homosexuality and diversity,
led our program on bisexuality. She
was assisted by a CGLA member who is a
self-identified bisexual. This
student, Leah (not her real name), felt
that she was not accepted by either the
gay or straight community. Homophobia
prevents her acceptance in the straight
community, and lesbians and gay men say
that she just can't deal with her
continued on page 5
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